Kim has eye of the Tiger, and maybe even more

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. - Anthony Kim received the ultimate compliment even before he slipped into the blue blazer as winner Sunday of the Wachovia Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C.

On the eve of the final round, Jason Bohn adorned Kim with the highest praise a tour pro today can deliver a fellow player.

"Almost Tiger-esque," Bohn said of the take-charge 66 Kim threw at him in the third round.

It's not the first time a tour pro has dared make the comparison as Kim, 22, suddenly finds himself among golf's favorites.

Frustrated with his development as a rookie last year, Kim sought out Mark O'Meara, the two-time major championship winner who mentored Woods.

Hitting the tour with a bold, brash attitude after three years as an All-America at the University of Oklahoma, Kim confessed to O'Meara that he needed to smooth his rough edges. Once asked whose faces he would carve onto the Mount Rushmore of golf, Kim said Woods, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and his own. His bravado rubbed some players the wrong way.

O'Meara was blunt but encouraging.

"I just conveyed to Anthony, I've watched a lot and I've seen a lot and you've got as much talent or more than any other player I've ever seen besides Tiger, and I believe that," O'Meara said.

O'Meara laid out to Kim what being a professional means and how it would help him realize his potential.

Kim, who wears a flashy trademark belt buckle with his initials on it, didn't have a poor rookie season. He made a strong debut with a second-place finish at the Valero Texas Open. He made more than $1.5 million his first season, but he couldn't believe he hadn't won and wasn't shy about telling other tour pros so.

"You can tell that he's confident," 13-time PGA Tour winner Jim Furyk said. "He really believes in himself. He walks around with a little bit of a swagger and style, and you can tell that he's got a lot of confidence in his game."

O'Meara helped tame some of the swagger.

So did Todd Hamilton, the British Open champion and fellow Sooner.

"I took a couple licks last year, and I realized the mistakes I made," Kim said. "I definitely don't want to discount that, but at the same time, that's in the past and what I'm looking forward to doing is becoming a better golfer and a better professional out here."

Kim is the youngest player on the PGA Tour, and he is its youngest winner in six years. He is the son of Korean immigrants who moved to Los Angeles in 1971. Like Woods, Kim was raised in Southern California and might be the first in the arrival of a generation of winners inspired by Woods.

When Woods won The Masters in a 12-shot romp for his first major championship triumph in 1997, Kim watched on television. He was 11 years old.

"I get chills just thinking about it," Kim said. "I remember, in my mind, putting my face on his body when he pumped his fist in the red, long-sleeved Nike shirt. That inspired me so much."

Kim said he has watched DVD highlights of Woods' three U.S. Amateur victories more than any other golf video.

"That inspired me and helped me get where I am and motivated me to be a winner," he said. "He's won at every level, and that's what I want to do."

Kim is smaller in stature than Woods, but even at 5-10 and 160 pounds, Kim is a power player. He's seventh on tour in driving distance (300.5 yards per drive). Like Woods, Kim has a nice touch around the greens.

There's a danger in going too far with the comparisons, though. At Kim's age, Woods had already won seven PGA Tour events, including a major.

Asked if he was motivated to challenge Woods, Kim said: "Right now, he's so far ahead of us ... I'm just trying to do the best I can to become the best player I can become."