Update from the PGA Tour website on late Wednesday: A statement from the Australian on the PGA Tour website read: “While I feel like the comments published were taken out of context, I did call Anthony to apologise for anything that I said or inferred that could possibly portray Anthony as anything less than a professional of the highest calibre.”
Kim has accepted that apology and commented; “we are both moving on”.
Intriguingly the duo could soon lock horns again as both are scheduled to play at the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain at the end of the month.
Update from ESPN on Wednesday: ”Kim ‘crushed’ by Allenby Allegations.” Looks like it’s getting a little heated with Fred Couples backing up AK that he wasn’t out partying during President’s Cup week in San Francisco.
“I promise you, there’s no way you can go out and beat a guy like Robert Allenby 5 and 3 if you’re out until 4 in the morning. There’s just no way,” Fred Couples told Seattle radio station KJR in an interview Wednesday on its “Mitch in the Morning” show. “It kind of crushed him. It was the best week that he ever had and those comments kind of crushed him.”
“Absolutely false,” Kim said, according to Golf World. “I was at the hotel, had dinner with the team, met my buddies for about 20 minutes, then went straight to my room. I was in tip-top shape. If Robert had that to say, he maybe needs to practice a little more.”
Couples said he told Kim he had to “let it go under the rug quick” and said that Allenby had called Kim to apologize.
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Anthony Kim is the best Korean-American golfer and one of the best golfers in the world. He’s young, brash and has got balls of steel. He’s got all the talent in the world but his issues previously were work ethic and focus. Well, he finally cleaned things up and he had a breakout year last year by winning twice on the PGA tour and also dominating at the Ryder Cup. This past weekend was the President’s Cup, a team golf competition between the Americans and the Internationals not from Europe. Well, AK was ok during most of the weekend but he sure stepped up during singles competition by beating up on Robert Allenby.
Interestingly, Allenby suggested afterwards that AK may be back to his old ways because it was hinted that AK was out partying the night before his match against Allenby and AK showed up at the hotel a little sideways at 4am.
Allenby said friends here witnessed Kim getting back to the team hotel, in Allenby’s words, “sideways” at 4 in the morning, less than five hours before his scheduled tee time against Allenby at Harding Park.
“Some guys (from the U.S.) who didn’t play well played very well today,” Allenby said after the U.S. downed the International team, 19 1/2 – 14 1/2, to win its third consecutive Presidents Cup. Kim, going out in the fourth match of the day, drummed Allenby, 5 and 3, running his record in the matches to 3-1.
“Maybe we should all take the theory of Anthony Kim,” Allenby said. “Get home at 4 o’clock (in the morning) and then go shoot 6 under.”
Asked if his comments were on the record, Allenby said, “I don’t care. Ask his playing partners. Ask his team. He is the loosest cannon in that team.”
Allenby went on to call the 24-year-old Kim golf’s “current John Daly.”
Informed of Allenby’s comments outside the U.S. team cabin, Kim said reports he didn’t get back to the team hotel until 4 a.m. were “absolutely false.” Kim said he joined his team for dinner Saturday night, met up with friends for 20 minutes and went “straight to my room.”
Said Kim, “He said that today? Wow. That’s pretty surprising. . . . I hope that was a joke.”
Photo by Associated Press
Anthony Kim is cheered on by Michael Jordan during his four-ball match at the Presidents Cup on Oct. 10.
Told it was not, Kim added, “I’m actually pretty surprised that he said that. I was in tip-top shape coming into today. When you get sat out in a match (as Kim did Saturday morning in foursomes), you’re out there to prove a point.” Read the full article at GolfWeek.
