SOUTHPORT, England -- Twenty-three things about 23-year-old Anthony Kim, the surging golfer and amusing gabber playing his first British Open with two PGA Tour wins already:
23 In a biographical turn seldom seen on the planet, Kim's parents, Korean immigrants, moved their only child from Studio City to La Quinta at age 16, trusting him to reside alone and attend La Quinta High amid ample golf courses and scant urban distractions, while they ran their herbs store on 6th Street in Los Angeles. His mother, Miryoung, cooked weeks of meals and stored them in the freezer. "I loved the microwave, and I still love the microwave," Kim said.
22 When Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters at 21, Kim watched intently at 11 and, "I remember in my mind, putting my face on his body."
21 The last guy to win a British Open here at Royal Birkdale, Mark O'Meara, 51, played golf with Kim last December and said Monday, "I called a bunch of people, Tiger included, and I said, 'You know what? This kid here is the best young player I've ever seen come along since Tiger. He has the most skill, the most talent. He seems like he's got an attitude but he's not afraid.' "
20 With thumping wins at quality courses in May (Quail Hollow, Charlotte) and in July (Congressional, Washington), Kim has alighted on the west coast of England for his fourth major tournament but his first British Open, his first links golf and his first trying practice rounds. Yet O'Meara, for one, says he thinks he'll actually contend.
19 "I had chills going up and down my spine," Kim said of walking up No. 18 at Quail Hollow.
18 In Washington, Kim won despite rising at 6 after watching UFC bouts around midnight. Asked if he would ever try UFC, Kim, 5 feet 10 and 160 pounds, said, "I mean, I would go in there with a bat."
17 As a carousing rookie and the youngest guy on tour in 2007, Kim once teased 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk for wearing a pink shirt. "I said, 'Rookie, wait a second. Rookie, it's still your first year, just pipe down over there,' " said Furyk, who did rather enjoy the chutzpah.
16 In addition to telling Sports Illustrated in May he wants to "help kids," reach No. 1 and "be the baddest person on the planet," he confessed that in his misguided rookie year of 2007 before he righted his thinking last fall and winter, he sometimes played with a hangover or with 45 minutes' sleep.
