[Golf] Korean American Wins PGA Wachovia Title

Korean-American golfer Anthony Kim won yesterday the PGA Tour Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Tiger Woods, who won the tournament last year, missed this year’s event due to knee surgery, giving 18 of the world’s top 25 players a chance at victory in Charlotte.

Rookie Kim had often said he will be a lion who beats the tiger. Yesterday, he posted six birdies and three bogeys in the fourth round and won with a combined score of 16-under 272, a tournament record.

He beat runner-up Ben Curtis of the United States by five shots.

Turning 23 next month, Kim earned his first PGA title in 38 tournaments and was the tour’s youngest winner since 2002, when 22-year-old Sergio Garcia of Spain took the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

World number two Phil Mickelson of the United States, who tied for fifth in the tournament, praised Kim as amazing, adding he will win many more tournaments.

Kim also won 1.152 million dollars and jumped to sixth from 35th in the prize money rankings, with a combined figure exceeding two million dollars.

kjs0123@donga.com