Anthony Kim withdraws from Timberlake, rumors start to fly
It's been a strange year for Anthony Kim. On one hand you can look at his early success and think that 2010 was a good season, with a win and a top three at the Masters. On the other, umm, hand, you can look at the thumb injury that has sidelined him for most of the second half of the season, forcing him to miss the U.S. Open and British, along with failing to make the Ryder Cup when he was once one of the top point-getters for the American team before his injury.
But Kim had surgery and was supposed to be all better, excited to play this week in Las Vegas at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open. Then, stories of his antics in Sin City started hitting the presses, not unusual for a 25-year-old in Vegas, but he has now pulled out of the event, citing the nagging thumb as the reason for it.
It's interesting that he'd do this after a few nights of serious partying. According to a report from Las Vegas Journal-Review, Kim was called a "loose cannon" by a dealer at the Bellagio after he had to be asked to keep the profanity down while playing poker on Monday night. Then, early Tuesday morning, a DJ named DJ Exodus was spinning at Jet in the Mirage, and sent out this Tweet at 2:02 AM.
Kim's agent, Dave Haggith, was asked by Golf.com's Steve Beslow if the reason for not playing had anything to do with his nightlife fun, and he said it absolutely did not.
"The two are completely unrelated," says Haggith, who also believes the media coverage of the incident at the Bellagio has been overblown. "He was being boisterous and he was asked to calm down and he was compliant."
Still, Kim is one of those guys now that, like John Daly, is labeled a party boy and will forever get attention with stories like this when he's out having fun. (Just a year ago, Kim was called out at the Presidents Cup by Robert Allenby for partying until 4 a.m. the night before the singles match.)
Do I see anything wrong with going out and having fun at a club when you're a famous, wealthy professional athlete? No, I'd do the same thing. Is it a problem if there is a chance it might be the reason you can't compete that week? Yes, this is where it gets a little fishy.
