Aussie fans rip no-show Allenby

Anthony Kim must love these guys.

In the midst of Tigermania at the Australian Masters, Peter Hanlon of The Age newspaper found "Robbie Rousers," a group of fans who come to cheer the golf and heckle Australian player Robert Allenby, who withdrew from this year's event. It's a must-read. Here's Hanlon's description of the shirts:

Beneath a pair of clinking beer tankards* on the left breast, their mission was writ large: ''Robert Allenby Cheer-Up Squad.'' On the back, Allenby's face was superimposed onto a large image of the elusive children's book character in the red and white hoops, Wally, carrying a giant dummy under the reworked slogan, ''Where's Robbie?''

Allenby got under Kim's skin after this year's Presidents Cup when he accused Kim of partying until 4 a.m. the night before their match. (Kim won easily.) The guys in the Robert Allenby Cheer-up Squad have a similar beef with Allenby, according to Hanlon.

Their testy relationship with Allenby goes back to The Vines a couple of years ago. ''He just came over to us on one hole and said, 'How's the beers working out for you boys?''' one of the Colins said. ''We were like, 'Yeah, good thanks.' Next hole he comes over and has another crack: 'Jealousy's a wonderful thing, isn't it boys?' We all blew up. We followed him for the rest of the round just giving it to him. My brother's said to him on the par three, 'Robert! Water on the right mate! Water on the right!' Sure enough, he's hit it in the piss. Next hole he's walking up the fairway flipping us [the bird]. His caddie's come over and had a go at us. He got security involved in the end. We actually didn't say too much to him, apart from just giving him a bit of heckling after he started into us. We saw him in the bar afterwards and said, 'Come and have a beer, Rob'. Nah, he was filthy at us. He's just a miserable so-and-so. Am I allowed to say that?''

*Tankards just means beer mugs. I had to look it up too.

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Charles Barkley offers advice to Anthony Kim

Charles Barkley may not be the right man to turn to for swing tips, and he's had his share of off-the-course problems, including a DUI arrest last February. Still, Anthony Kim might want to pay attention to Sir Charles's most recent advice. Referring to the Presidents Cup controversy surrounding Kim and his exchange of words with Robert Allenby, Barkley offered a few suggestions this week during an interview with ESPN Radio Dallas:

I have become friends with Anthony Kim and I was talking to him the other day trying to tell him: Let this B.S. with Robert Allenby go. Nothing good is going to happen if you all are going back-and-forth. The one thing that I will say about Tiger is that when we go out, he can drink. He drinks but he never drinks when he has got a tournament. So I think you distinguish those two. If we are just going to Vegas to screw around or we are just going around, he might have a couple of beers or something. If he has got a tournament, he does not drink. .... You can have fun when you are off: Ok, I got a tournament this week. Tiger won’t even do caffeine the week of a tournament. He thought that it screwed up his putting stroke. You know how sometimes caffeine has got you jittery? I mean just simple stuff like that. (Host: What about sex?) What about sex? I sure hope that nobody stops that. I hope nobody stops that.”

What to watch for: First round at Colonial

My first order of business will be to watch Anthony Kim, who I visited a year ago in Dallas after his breakout win at Quail Hollow. When he followed up with a win at Congressional and stellar play for the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team, he looked like he was settling in for a dominant run, especially with Tiger Woods on the mend.

The 2009 season, though, has been a downer, except for his record-setting 11 birdie day during the second round of the Masters. Kim has no wins, just one top 10, and he's missed three cuts. Colonial is Kim's last chance to contend in Texas this season (he finished tied for 71st at Valero and missed the cut at the Nelson). I'm expecting a better result this week.

I'm also going to be watching Ian Baker-Finch, the 1991 British Open champion and CBS commentator who has only played sparingly thanks to a mysterious loss of confidence. Baker-Finch, 48, last competed on the PGA Tour in 2001 at Colonial, missing the cut at the site of his first Tour victory in 1989. I remember asking Justin Leonard about Baker-Finch two years ago, and he told me that Ian was still a fine player during practice rounds with pals.

"With Finchy, it’s unfortunate that he couldn’t get it back," Leonard said then of Baker-Finch's confidence. "He’s still a wonderful golfer, but getting it out here inside the ropes, he’s kind of seen too many bad things to recover from.”

It'd be nice to see Baker-Finch bring it inside the ropes this week.

Most importantly, I'll be interested in feeling the vibe around Colonial, which will be without defending champion Phil Mickelson, whose wife, Amy, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The PGA Tour wives will take part in a "Pink Out" on Saturday in which they are asking players and wives to wear pink in support of Amy. Sounds like a wonderful gesture.

For more Colonial updates, and tidbits from the world of golf and the NFL, please log on to www.twitter.com/si_damonhack

Anthony Kim lights up Augusta National with 11 birdies

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Somebody forgot to tell Anthony Kim that Thursday was the day for scoring at the 2009 Masters, not Friday. On a gusty day when the field’s scoring average soared by more than a stroke and half, Kim made Augusta National look like Augusta Municipal, reeling off a Masters-record 11 birdies on his way to a seven-under 65.

The 23-year-old Kim opened with birdies on Nos. 1 and 3, then carded four straight on 5, 6, 7 and 8. He slipped up with a double-bogey at 10 and then caught fire again, birdieing 12, 13, 14 and 15. His 11th birdie, on the home hole, broke Nick Price’s record, which Price set in the third round of the 1986 Masters. 

“I haven't been making 11 birdies in two days, so to make 11 in one day is pretty special,” said Kim, who hasn’t won on Tour since last July. “And obviously to do it at Augusta is amazing.  Hopefully I can build off that and if I keep the putter hot, I like my chances here.”

Kim said a newspaper story he read this morning about Nick Adenhart, the 22-year-old Los Angeles Angels pitcher who died in a car crash Thursday, inspired him to play aggressively. “The last line in the story was: ‘You never know what can happen, even at 22.  You have to live every moment of every day like it’s your last,’ ” Kim said.

“I think that's what made the 11 birdies a lot easier,” he added.

Among the highlights: At the par-4 first, he hit a 9-iron from a fairway bunker to 15 feet and made the putt. At the par-4 14th, he stuck his wedge approach to 8 inches. At the par-5 15th, he hit a 4-iron to 20 feet. And at the par-4 18th, he drained a 12-footer for the record.

“It feels like a 58 right now,” Kim said. “I mean, I just tried to stay steady.  Even though I made a bogey on 9 and a double on 10, and I three putted early on No. 4, I just said, ‘Stay steady.’ The first goal is to make the cut, and then make a run on Saturday and Sunday.”

At just five off the lead, Kim is in a position to do just that.

(Photo: Bob Martin/SI)

Young stars take their lumps at Augusta National

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- You would have had a hard time finding a spot against the gallery rope as Tiger Woods played through at the 2009 Masters on Thursday, with Stewart Cink and Jeev Milkha Singh.

But if you waited 15 minutes, the crowd would thin as fans chased golf's present No. 1 player, allowing an unimpeded view of golf's future. Woods's group was trailed by three of the youngest, most heralded players in the field: Japan's Ryo Ishikawa, 17; American Anthony Kim, 23; and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, 19.

The trio made up the final (2:03 p.m.) group of the day and seemed to have color-coordinated their outfits before the round. Ishikawa wore a red shirt, Kim white, McIlroy blue. Kim and McIlroy went with retro, with white belts, while Ishikawa's was red. All wore dark slacks.

And all three displayed impeccable golf swings, at times hitting towering, precise drives and approach shots. You could see the game. Not that the "patrons" always knew what they were looking at, or who. After Kim hit a laser-like iron shot from out of the pine straw left of the eighth fairway, one impressed onlooker bellowed, "At a boy, Andrew!"

Andrew, Anthony--whatever.

Truth is, none of the three played well enough to gain any additional fame, and all of them made the kind of silly mistakes that typically plague fresh-faced Masters participants, especially at the par-5 eighth. Ishikawa tried to bite off too much from the fairway bunker, catching a tree and leaving himself with a long third shot to the green. He managed to reach the green with his long-iron third, however, and made par.

After laying up in two, both Kim and McIlroy went at the sucker pin in the back of the green and airmailed the putting surface. Kim salvaged par; McIlroy fluffed his chip and made a painful bogey 6.

On a day when the abundance of red numbers made the Masters seem like the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, none of the young guns took advantage. McIlroy finished at even par, Ishikawa at 1-over 73 and Kim at 3-over 75. Playing two groups ahead of them was the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, 18-year-old Danny Lee, who shot 74.

Chad Campbell, 34, was seven shots ahead of the best of the youngsters, McIlroy, after an opening 65. Larry Mize, 50, the 1987 champion here, shot a 5-under 67. Greg Norman, 54, carded a 2-under 70.

For the youngest, most promising players in the field, it seemed the 2009 Masters would offer seasoning, as expected. It would offer a lesson in humility, and patience (rounds took five-plus hours). But alas, it seemed almost certain there would be no green jacket. Not yet.

More on: Rory McIlroy | Ryo Ishikawa | Anthony Kim | Danny Lee

Nike commercial criticism is totally mental

When does a mental-game coach become a just-mental coach?

About the time he attaches great significance to a Nike commercial.

Sports psychologist Bob Rotella doesn't like the recent Nike commercial which shows Anthony Kim, Trevor Immelman, Stewart Cink and Justin Leonard laughing and feeling good about their recent success until they're silenced by an all-business Tiger Woods returning to the locker room after his injury layoff, according to the Florida Sun-Sentinel. (If you've recently been released from Biosphere 2 and haven't seen the commerical, you can watch it here.)

This came through when that Nike commercial aired last week trumpeting Tiger Woods' return at the Accenture Match Play Championship. It's the one where the song "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" plays over a message in which Woods' competitors acknowledge that the fun and games they're having are over now that Woods is back.

"Hated it," Rotella said. "One of the worst commercials I've ever seen in my life."

Rotella means no offense to Woods, but he was repulsed by the fact competitors would willingly put themselves in such deferential positions, even if it was meant to be funny. This is the coach in him reacting, the jock in him recoiling.

C'mon, Bob, the commercial is funny, and Nike was smart to leverage Woods to make a commercial about its other, lesser-known stars. (Woods appears in the ad for just a few seconds -- the ad is really about AK, Cink, Immelman and Leonard.) It's also a stretch to say that appearing in this ad amounts to surrender. The self-parodying athlete has been a cliche since David Ortiz wore a Yankees cap in an ESPN conference room for the network's groundbreaking "This is Sports Center" commercials.

At least AK has the right idea. Here's how he responded to Rotella's criticism Tuesday at Doral:

Q. Bob Rotella commented after the advertisement ran, which almost everybody enjoyed, about Tiger walking in the locker room, that sort of a thing, that it was not a bright thing for you guys to do and that you are all afraid of Tiger Woods. That was a pretty strong comment for him to make. What do you think about that?
ANTHONY KIM: I didn't even hear about it.

Q. He sort of said, it's like you guys are giving him ammunition, saying you are all afraid of him.
ANTHONY KIM: Well, I have a sense of humor, so ... (laughter).

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.

Anthony Kim at Q-school to support pal

Anthony Kim could be taking a well-deserved break from the game after his winning twice on Tour this year and becoming a breakout star in the Ryder Cup. Instead, he’s walking PGA West’s Stadium Course with his friend Seung 'Su Han, who is trying to get through Q-School this week.

AK told Helen Ross of PGATour.com that he knows from experience how tough Q-School is, and he wanted to be there for his friend Han, who struggled his way to a 73 on Wednesday.

Kim, who is 23, and Han met about six years ago when both were talented juniors. "He used to beat me all the time," Kim said with a smile. Han perked up later when he heard that, smiling and saying, "I can still beat him -- not today, though."

Kim, who won the Wachovia Championship and AT&T National earlier this year, has a home nearby and remembered how much he appreciated friends showing up when he earned his TOUR card at PGA West two years ago. So he decided to do the same for Han.

"When I played here, I had some support, and I know that helped very much because I was a younger player just getting started," Kim said. "I'd like to see him do well. He's a really good kid, and hopefully he can get through."

Nice to see someone who gets to the top and doesn’t forget his friends. Wish it happened more often.

Forget the Big Four, Meet the Big Six

The emergence of young players like Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas amounts to a sea change at the top of the PGA Tour, according to Nick Faldo, and one that’s good for the game. Gone are longtime top-of-the-food-chain guys like Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. Instead, Kim, Villegas and Sergio Garcia are now the face of golf — along with veterans Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh.

"Tiger being out, we've had Phil and we've got Camilo Villegas and we've got Sergio and still got Vijay in there, and Anthony Kim there maybe bubbling under,” Faldo said at the USB Hong Kong Open. “So it's kind of a change at the top, the leading players, so that's exciting. And they are all good characters, as well, so that's really good for television.”

I’d give  Villegas’s spot to Padraig Harrington, but Faldo is right on the money. Woods’s absence has been terrible for TV ratings, but it energized the Tour’s younger generation, who got more time in the sun this summer as the World No. 1 recovered from knee surgery. Now you get the sense that guys are hungry to take on Woods. For all the talk about the economy’s effect on the PGA Tour, including players' possibly having to rent cars at tournaments (OMG!!!), 2009 could be the most entertaining PGA Tour season we’ve seen in a while.

Golf announcers in Anthony Kim race gaffe

After the tempest involving Kelly Tilghman and her 'lynch Tiger' crack, you might assume golf announcers would have realized that race is like the third rail -- touch it and you'll get fried.

Apparently Richard Boxall and Bruce Critchley missed that memo.

Boxall and Critchley are golf announcers on Sky TV and worked last week's HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, won by Sergio Garcia. But the most jarring moment came when the pair were talking on air about rising American star Anthony Kim.

"With all these Chinese people around, I'm not sure if I bumped into him [Kim] in the hotel reception last night," Boxall said. "I'm not sure if it was him."

Because they all look alike, right? Kim is actually of Korean descent and was born in Los Angeles.

Not to be outdone, Critchley added his own cringe-worthy moment. After Kim's approach shot landed well past the pin, the British announcer described Kim as wearing a look of "oriental surprise," according to the Irish Independent.

As Independent writer Karl MacGinty put it, "Sky's European Tour commentary team sometimes forget the audience extends far beyond their local pub back home. There are people of all creeds and colors now watching the game -- in every part of the world."