Anthony Kim has never scored better than Tiger Woods in any tournament in which they were both entered. That didn't change Sunday, when Tiger outlasted Kim, and held off Hunter Mahan, to win the AT&T National. Kim began the final round tied with Woods atop the leaderboard. Tiger shot 67 and won, Kim signed for a 71, which was good for third place. Despite the outcome, though, Kim fared better than most of the young players slapped with the "next guy to challenge Tiger" label.
Off the top of my head, some (relatively) recent examples:
In 1999, at the PGA Championship, Tiger was in the final group with Mike Weir on Sunday. Woods shot 72 and won his second major; Weir fired an 80 after falling behind early.
In 2006, at the British Open, Sergio Garcia looked uncomfortable for much of Sunday afternoon, struggling to make short putts. He shot 73, seven shots back of Woods, the eventual winner.
A year later, at Oakmont, Aaron Baddeley needed only one hole -- the first one -- to lose his two-shot lead to Woods. Angel Cabrera would eventually win the U.S. Open, but it was the latest example of how playing with Tiger, never mind trying to beat him, made great golfer something much less than that.
Take Weir's '99 performance, for instance. In Lorne Rubenstein's book, "Mike Weir: the Road to the Masters," he writes that:
"Weir's experience that Sunday was not pleasant. The crowds would surge forward after Woods putted out, and sometimes Weir got caught behind people on his way to the next tee. He didn't have his own security people, and he needed them. Many spectators were taunting him, too. 'Come on, Weir, you can do it,' a beer-swilling spectator yelled when Weir was well behind Woods with no chance of catching him, and somebody else screamed mockingly, 'Kick his butt, Mike!' People had been loud at the Western Open when Weir was in the last group with Woods, but they were merely loud, not obnoxious."
Back at the AT&T, Anthony Kim battled his swing all day, particularly off the tee. Playing second shots from the rough when trying to win a PGA Tour event and fend off Woods is, well, a no-win situation. And that's what happened to Kim. But unlike Weir, Sergio and Badds, Kim managed his way around the golf course, posting a respectable 1-over, four shots back of Woods.
This doesn't mean Kim has succeeded where others failed, it just means that for one week, the duct tape held. Of course, there's a huge difference between trying to win the AT&T, where Kim was defending champion, and trying to win a major.
