Kim: I thought Tiger had eight majors
In my short time covering sports for a living, I've noticed an amusing trend: fans and the media sometimes know more about a sport than the athletes who compete in them. A recent example was Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb, who admitted that he didn't know NFL games could end in a tie until the Eagles and Bengals played to a 13-13 draw.
Anthony Kim provided a jaw-dropper during his press conference on Tuesday at the Mercedes. He was doing a clinic recently with Tiger Woods, he said, when his knowledge of recent history was proved lacking.
"I'm not a huge golf fan, so I don't know all the stats," Kim said. "I really thought he had won about eight majors, and he told me he won 14. I didn't know that." Fortunately for Kim, we have a nice reference tool for him to consult, so he can catch up on how Tiger got to 14.
Kim also learned that he has yet to finish ahead of Tiger in a tournament. To be fair, Kim has only played two full seasons, and Woods only played six events in 2008. That leads to an interesting stat you might not know about Kim: He will be making his Masters debut in April.
Posted by: DangerousDivot | Jan 14, 2009 5:06:11 PM
Why do people hate on greatness!?? There must be some underline reasons they are so miserable!
Posted by: John | Jan 14, 2009 3:10:34 AM
Hey V, Rob, Neal, Bill, Theman and all you other whacks, life doesn't revolve around Tiger, but face it, golf does. Anthony "the contender" will have a magnificent career if he manages one fourth of Tiger's wins. A real rivalry would be entertaining though.
Posted by: Rich Holt | Jan 13, 2009 11:57:45 AM
How does just 2 athletes "not knowing things about their sport" constitute a trend?
Posted by: Colin Ming | Jan 12, 2009 8:23:24 PM
As an amateur player of the game and an ardent sport lover, I am just happy to be living in the era of such another great athlete and be able to witness him play and rewrite of the history books. The current professional players must be thankful to "Tiger" for everything he has done for the game. Even "AK" in time will realise that if he hasn't done so already.
Posted by: Geezil Etu | Jan 12, 2009 1:15:36 PM
These guys are good. Some better than others! Tiger has it ALL together and guys like Kim are good for the game. Media coverage is so broad these days that every word on and off the course is printed. How many majors has Tiger won! How many times did Babe Ruth lead the league in homeruns.???? It doesn't matter. I enjoy watching golf and especially Tiger. I enjoyed Palmer and Nicklus and now it is Tiger and the other young players. They make it exciting.
Posted by: RP | Jan 10, 2009 9:17:08 PM
I've been watching golf and playing for more than 40 years. Whether you like Tiger or not, he's the best player to come along in that time. Better than Palmer, Nichlaus, etc. He's got every shot, the personal drive to succeed and natural talent. People who don't like Tiger are racist, stupid and just angry at the world for some other reason.
Posted by: Gustavo Millan | Jan 10, 2009 4:21:48 AM
WHO CARES THE RYDER CUP ?
Es más divertida la President !
Kim: Tiger completó el grand slam a los 24 años ! Eso lo sabés ?
Posted by: V Morton | Jan 9, 2009 11:49:53 PM
WHO CARES WHAT "TIGER" HAS WON.There's a lot more players on that tour than "IT". It sure is a pleasure watching Golf now and not have to scan in on him every shot.Isn't it funny though that the first Ryder Cup that punk isn't in THE U.S brings it home? P-E-C-U-L-I-A-R-
Posted by: V Morton | Jan 9, 2009 11:48:25 PM
WHO CARES WHAT "TIGER" HAS WON.There's a lot more players on that tour than "IT". It sure is a pleasure watching Golf now and not have to scan in on him every shot.Isn't it funny though that the first Ryder Cup that punk isn't in THE U.S brings it home? P-E-C-U-L-I-A-R-
Posted by: Johan | Jan 9, 2009 9:03:41 PM
if you watch the clinic in its entirety, you'll know it's a tongue in cheek comment. anyone who comments otherwise is only based on this second hand reporting, which the sole purpose is to promote golf.com's new "tiger meter."
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=anthony+kim+tiger+woods&search_type=&aq=f
Posted by: IGolf | Jan 9, 2009 8:59:44 PM
Oh yeah, and Kim, if you were honestly that far off on Tiger's majors you are either a liar or just not too bright! You're a good talent though so don't spoil it!
Posted by: IGolf | Jan 9, 2009 8:53:10 PM
It was interesting to read some of the posts here hating Tiger. Almost British in it's sentiment. "How dare you be so good" I am a big hockey fan and I was given the privilege of watching Gretzky during his big years. Athletes at this level come along once a generation or so. I was not a Woods fan in the beginning as he was very immature. Now he has evolved into a mature adult and he's fun to watch. I respect what he has done for a game that is now as exciting as hockey when "The Great One" played!!
Posted by: Chris | Jan 9, 2009 7:11:50 PM
Fooled me too, then. Because I thought Tiger only had 12. Hahaha.
Posted by: Rob | Jan 9, 2009 5:48:40 PM
Good for Kim. I hate it when players continually kiss tiger's arse and act like he's god. sure, he's the best in the world, but if you're competing against him why psyche yourself out. Give him respect but don't sing his praises and don't feel like you need to memorize his stats.
Posted by: Rob | Jan 9, 2009 5:48:33 PM
Good for Kim. I hate it when players continually kiss tiger's arse and act like he's god. sure, he's the best in the world, but if you're competing against him why psyche yourself out. Give him respect but don't sing his praises and don't feel like you need to memorize his stats.
Posted by: Rob | Jan 9, 2009 5:48:21 PM
Good for Kim. I hate it when players continually kiss tiger's arse and act like he's god. sure, he's the best in the world, but if you're competing against him why psyche yourself out. Give him respect but don't sing his praises and don't feel like you need to memorize his stats.
Posted by: neal | Jan 9, 2009 4:23:07 PM
Hey, Bill, I have a news flash for you.
Life does indeed revolve around Tiger. The sooner you come to terms with that fact, the happier you'll be in life.
Posted by: Bill | Jan 9, 2009 2:52:07 PM
You go KIM go!! Hey you clowns its not like ALL the golfers NEED to know EVERYTHING about Tiger....geeeez gimme a break....who really cares anyway what he has? 8? 14? 2? 100? HO HUM life doesnt revolve against the guy
Posted by: Bob | Jan 9, 2009 2:49:03 PM
I hope someone beats Tigers records SICK of TIGER THIS AND TIGER THAT only for money and a story and news news news SICK SICK SICK so many other great stories with golfers but its a MONEY business...fake and phony and pompous
Posted by: Nick DLP | Jan 9, 2009 1:34:16 PM
My two Champion Junior Golfers Know about the Tiger Tracker and his 14 impressive Majors!
Posted by: Brian Ehrlich | Jan 9, 2009 11:05:26 AM
I think AK is good, maybe good enough to win 2 or 3 majors, so in his mind he's 5 behind Tiger.
Everyone in the world knows Tiger owns 14 titles, and for AK to say that is just plain stupid. Even Boo wouldn't say that!
Funny thing is, every player that says something stupid about Tiger in the past few years, are rewarded by completely losing their game...I bet he'll maybe win once this year, and it will be at the Honda Clasic or the Viking
Posted by: Tim S | Jan 9, 2009 9:20:31 AM
AK won't beat all tiger records. He is a feel player and will be streaky.
Posted by: Theman | Jan 9, 2009 7:36:25 AM
AK will beat all Tigers records.
Posted by: Gustavo Millan | Jan 9, 2009 4:17:19 AM
Éste jugador es otro invento de la prensa, como lo son García, Scott, Donald, Villegas, etc, que ganan pequeños torneos alrededor del mundo o en PGA tour cuando Tiger no juega.A nadie le importa si él sabe o nó. Lo que nos interesa, es que Tiger quedará en la historia como el más grande de todos.
Posted by: JD | Jan 8, 2009 11:13:13 PM
Sergio has 1 ... not. El Nino has NONE.
Posted by: Alfonso Hidalgo | Jan 8, 2009 7:44:44 AM
This is the same guy who rush off the green heading to next tee after beating Sergio 5&4 in Ryder cup. Didn´t he know he was putting for the match?? Pair him with Boo at a press conferenece and air them nationally. What a show!!
Posted by: mannyv | Jan 8, 2009 4:15:21 AM
idiot. Does anyone actually believe him?
Posted by: Ringo Demaret | Jan 8, 2009 2:43:00 AM
I like AK, but I'd like to slap a little mustard on that hotdog.
Posted by: Tom | Jan 7, 2009 8:56:22 PM
"I don't know, I just do it"
I wish I had his swing thoughts... and swing...
and Nike's mkting dept is chuckling right now.
Posted by: Chris H | Jan 7, 2009 7:40:39 PM
... this is coming from a guy who said "I dont know, i just do it", when asked by Tiger during the clinic regarding how he hits a draw.
Posted by: Pato | Jan 7, 2009 6:54:08 PM
AK is pulling a boo weekly, for a kid that idolized TW growing up, there's no way he doesn't keep track of how many that he has. He's just tweaking TW by being stupid about his greatness. I think it's gonna be a fun 2009 when they get it on!
Posted by: jeffar | Jan 7, 2009 6:46:01 PM
please please,go back to golf school!
Posted by: Thad | Jan 7, 2009 5:10:35 PM
He's a liar...that's complete and total BS. He's not that stupid. He's trying to downplay his knowledge of what Tiger has accomplished to make it appear as though he doesn't give it much thought. Little does he know stuff like that motivates Tiger like crazy.
Posted by: Jim | Jan 7, 2009 4:15:21 PM
Jones won 13, Nicklaus 20, Woods has 17, Mickleson has 4, Sergio Garcia has 1...
Posted by: ADJS | Jan 7, 2009 3:30:26 PM
What a moron.