This was an article I wrote a while back that I will still go back to and read—yes, I read my own stuff from time to time. What can I say, I’m a huge Anthony Kim fan, and with the 2020 Houston Open going on this week, it reminds me of AK’s last win on Tour.

In 2010 Kim, who lead most of the day, finally defeated Vaughn Taylor in a playoff to secure victory #3. It was a sign of good things to come, AK had dedicated himself to getting to world #1, Tiger was on his own comeback and the throne was ripe for the taking. We all know what happened—after a spell of injuries, Anthony Kim walked away. 

Before digging into the piece, here’s an exclusive Q&A with AK’s caddie, Brodie Flanders.

JW: You caddied for AK for most of his career. What do you think made him so special as a player?

BF: His mindset. His self-belief and his confidence. He had absolutely zero self-doubt when he was inside the ropes and felt that he could hit any shot at any time no matter the pressure or circumstances. Playing defensively wasn’t a thing for AK.

JW: He won the Houston Open in 2010. You guys had it in hand until the final hole. What do remember most about the 72nd hole and the playoff victory?

BF: AK won by nine shots in a college event at the same course just a few years prior. We talked about it during the practice rounds, and he went into that week with some great memories to fall back on. The 18th tee shot at Redstone is challenging and the natural bailout is right. Unfortunately, he hit it into that fairway bunker off the tee, which made for a tough par to close it out.

A lot of people don’t realize that at that time, AK was playing with a torn thumb ligament in his left hand. He could barely keep his thumb on the club, so that week was about AK digging deep and just grinding it out and believing the chips would fall in his favor. When he saw Vaughn Taylor’s reaction to him missing the par putt on the 72nd, it put extra fuel in the tank to close it out in the playoff. He found the fairway and green and got it done.

JW: What was different about AK that week? Putter? Attitude? Ball striking?

BF: He put on a short game clinic that week but he did that every week if you ask me. He had a top-five short game, no question about it, and when he was hitting it sideways (thumb), he relied on his wedges and putting to get it done.

JW: What’s your favorite AK moment?

BF: I could write a book about my favorite AK moments. There’s so many. He’s been my family for half my life now. I had the pleasure of playing against him in the World Juniors in Japan at 16 to being roommates with him in college at OU, to walking with him for a few years inside and outside the ropes, and even building some businesses together. If I had to single out a moment, it was his back 9 run at the 2010 Masters. AK never feels that he’s out of a tournament and what I always appreciated most about his game was the way he’d close the rounds. It wasn’t unusual for him to go 4-5 under on the last 9.

On Sunday, he told me on the 13th that if he could go birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, birdie, he’d win.
He birdied 13, 14, and on 15 he had almost the identical yardage he had from Saturday. He flushed a 5 iron right behind the hole. Walking over the Sarazen bridge I tried to take it all in for probably the first time that day. I was at the Masters on Sunday with my best friend and he’s making a run. He said to me while reading that eagle putt on 15 “these ppl are about to go f*n nuts… watch this” and then he rolled it in. Goosebumps. He did the same thing on 16. I’ll never forget that day for the rest of my life.

Two weeks later, he hung it up to have surgery finally. One of many to follow.

JW: From AK fan #1 (me) can you let us know how he’s doing? Is he happy?

BF: AK is well and very very happy, and if you ask me, his best days are ahead of him and not behind him.

JW: Last question: If you built a WITB for AK now, what do you think would be in the bag?

BF: AK’s a rare breed and could make anything work. It’s hard to bet against the TM and Callaway woods these days, but I’d probably lean towards TM. I could see him putting one of those new driving irons in the bag instead of a utility since he was always creative with his 3-wood.

• Irons TaylorMade P7AK irons (haha!)
• Vokey Wedges
• One of his original Scotty Cameron putters
• Titleist Pro V1x

2010 Houston Open WITB

Driver: Nike VR Pro LTD 9.5 @10, 55 Lie, D4 w/ UST AxivCore Tour Black 79X @45

3-wood: TaylorMade Burner TS 13,  56 Lie, D4 w/ UST AxivCore Tour Black 89X @43

5-wood: Nike Sasquatch Dyno 19, Open, 56 Lie, D4 1/2 w/ UST AxivCore Tour Black 89X @42

Irons: Nike VR Pro MB (3-P) w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400. All Irons at D3 and Std Length (38 inch 5 Iron, 35 3/4 PW)

Wedges: Nike VR Pro “MT Grind”: (54, 59) w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400, 54 @D4, 59@D 4 1/2

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Select Circle T Newport 2 w/ Scotty Cameron Pistol Red Full Chord Grip

Grips: Golf Pride BCT 60R Logo Down

Ball: Nike One Platinum

Now the speculation as to what the real reason goes anywhere from AK being a CIA agent to some insurance thing, boredom, other interests, etc. The point is, it doesn’t matter. The reasons are for AK only. As a golf fan, I’m just disappointed someone I loved watching is out of the picture.

Nonetheless, he is still one of my favorite topics. So in the spirit of looking back, here is an article I wrote in March of this year that goes into AK’s bag.

POSTED MARCH 20th, 2020

I can’t believe it’s been almost eight years since Anthony Kim teed it up last. He left us to get Achilles surgery in the summer of 2012, and we haven’t seen him since. It’s been well speculated as to the why and how he decided to leave the game, but ultimately no one really has the answer but the man himself.

Frankly, I’m grateful for the time he did give us. He was electric, fun, precise, wild, cocky, humble, and everything else. For every story of AK out on the town doing things that 20-somethings do, there is another story of his prolific generosity and humility.

LISTEN TO THE GEAR DIVE w/ Anthony Kim’s long-time swing coach Adam Schriber for the story of AK changing someone’s life with a big tip.

In my opinion, if he were still playing and healthy, he would be in that BK, Rory convo constantly. Let’s face it, he played well until injuries started to creep in. It’s a fact. His health went sideways in 2010, and it was uphill climb until he decided to hang it up.

I wanted to dive a little deeper into his gear, so I went to the person that worked with him closest. Ex-Nike tour tech and now @thetourvan‘s Ben Giunta.

SEE BELOW FOR AK’s final bag specs before he hung ’em up.

Ben Giunta, who worked with AK for years, had to say in regards to AK and his equipment.

JW: Not sure if TrackMan was really a thing back then but what kind of numbers did AK put up?

BG: So this is kinda weird in an era where TM is everywhere but I honestly don’t recall using a TM with AK. In those days, we used the big grey Nike talking box and don’t remember any of his data. I bet he was a 175-178 mph ball speed guy.

JW: Early on, he was known to use a low-lofted hybrid to replace his 3-wood. What was the process like to finally get him in that club?

BG: He hated hitting the ball left, especially with his woods. His fairway woods were always flat and bent open with hot-melt towards the toe. The only exception was in 2011, I built him a hot drawing 3-wood for Augusta. It wasn’t necessarily difficult to get him into a 3-wood, you just had to make sure it never went left (laughter).

JW: Did Mike Taylor do anything special to his irons? Or were they standard Nike blades?

BG: I’m sure MT touched his irons a bit, as he did for every Nike athlete, but he was pretty much a stock blade guy out of the box. His wedges, on the other hand, were MT specials. 54 and 59 every time with some specific toe-heel grinding on the 59. He was an incredible wedge player.

JW: Anything special overall you did for his equipment that stands out?

BG: AK was an incredible ball striker but when he missed it was left. I felt like we were always messing with woods…always open, always flat. AK wasn’t much of a tech guy, didn’t care much about what the product should do, just wanted it to work. 100 percent feel. 

JW: Any fun AK stories from your time with him?

BG: Lots of AK stories, met the kid in 2007 at Q-School. He had just turned pro and at that time was followed by a ton of hype. I remember checking in with him to make sure he was good equipment-wise and he was as cool as could be smoking 4-iron after 4-iron, and I thought to myself this kid is going to be unbelievable.

15 months later he’s the hottest thing since sliced bread but still down to earth, at least inside the ropes. I remember seeing him in early 2013 with Adam at the Yard House in Palm Desert but the last event we actually did work was Quail in 2012 when he last showed up at a tour event. He was always good to me, great ball striker and competitor.

Anthony Kim’s final specs

Driver: Nike VR Pro LTD 9.5 @10, +3 Open, 55 Lie, D4 w/ UST Attas RK Proto 7X tipped 1 3/4 @44.75.

3-wood: Nike VR Pro LTD 15 @15.5, +3 Open, 56 Lie, D4 w/ Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana Ahina 80X@43

5-wood: Nike VR Pro LTD 19 @17, +4 Open, 56 Lie, D4 1/2 w/ UST AxivCore Tour Red 89X @42

Irons: Nike VR Pro Split CB (3) NIKE VR Pro MB (4-P) w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400. All Irons at D3 and Std Length (38 inch 5 Iron, 35 3/4 PW)

Wedges: Nike VR Pro “MT Grind”: (54, 59) w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400, 54 @D4, 59@D 4 1/2

Lofts and lies per club

• 3: 20, 56 1/2
• 4: 23, 56 1/2
• 5: 27, 58 1/2
• 6: 30, 59 3/4
• 7: 34, 60 1/2
• 8: 38, 61
• 9: 42, 61 1/2
• PW: 46, 62
• SW: 54, 61 1/2
• LW: 59, 61 1/2

Putter: Switched between a Scotty Cameron “Button Back” Newport 2 and a Nike Method

Grips: Golf Pride BCT 60R Logo Down

When you look closely, you can see exactly what Ben was alluding to as far as the flatness of AK’s sticks. It was fun to dig into his bag a bit further, but ultimately it’s bittersweet. I want AK to come back in a blaze of glory. He’s good for the game on every level. He’s a star, and I don’t think we ever saw exactly what he was capable of, just glancing blows.