Houston, we have a tournament...

anthony kim

The Shell Houston Open is shaping up for a great finish Sunday with a lot of big names at the top of the leaderboard. Phil Mickelson poured in nine birdies Saturday for a 63 to bolt to the top of the board alongside Scott Verplank at 13-under.

Trailing one shot behind is Aaron Baddely, who won at Riviera in February. Anthony Kim, the defending champion who broke through with a 64 Friday is just two strokes back. Steve Stricker, who hasn't been seen much this year, is playing well this week and sits at 10-under, threes strokes off the lead.

At 9-under, you have Kim's nemesis, Robert Allenby, as well as Padraig Harrington, whose 423 swing changes seem to be shaping up, and Hunter Mahan, whose been playing well for much of the year.

All in all, it makes for a top notch leaderboard Sunday as the players try to win and gain momentum heading into Augusta next week.

Round Two Photos from Torrey Pines

anthony kim

Bill Haas (Stephen Dunn / Getty)

Rickie Fowler (Stephen Dunn / Getty)

Anthony Kim (Stephen Dunn / Getty)

John Daly (Donald Miralle / Getty)

Phil Mickelson (Donald Miralle / Getty)

Tiger Woods (Stephen Dunn / Getty)

Farmers Insurance Open Leaderboard

Round One Photos from Torrey Pines

anthony kim

Leaderboard

Tiger Woods (Donald Miralle / Getty)

John Daly (Stephen Dunn / Getty)

 Phil Mickelson (Stephen Dunn / Getty)

Anthony Kim (Donald Miralle / Getty)

AK heads to Masters with win

anthony kim

AK got his first win today since 2008 at the Shell Houston Open.

He could be a strong contender this week at Augusta, which he proved last year when he made an insane 11 birdies in the second round.

AP Photo / Dave Einsel

In non related Tiger news......

anthony kim

Anthony Kim won a million bucks at the Kiwi Challenge in New Zealand by beating Sean O'Hair in a playoff. Hunter Mahan placed third and Camillo Villegas fourth in the tournament for players under 30.


The final round of the Fall series kicks off Thursday at Disney giving the players one final shot to secure their card for next year. David Duval is right on the bubble, and unfortunately shot 76 in the first round which jeopardizes his chances immensely. Definitely amazing that he was so close to winning the U.S. Open this year and still might not secure his card for next year.

Barkley gives advice to Kim?

anthony kim

Charles Barkley seems to be pretty cool and he's definitely an entertaining personality, especially for people witnessing his golf swing. I'm just not sure why a 45 year old guy who recently got out of jail for DWI and is absolutely atrocious at golf is giving advice about drinking to a 24 year old who hasn't got in trouble (yet) and is one of the best players in the world.

From Golf.com

"I have become friends with Anthony Kim and I was talking to him the other day trying to tell him: Let this B.S. with Robert Allenby go. Nothing good is going to happen if you all are going back-and-forth. The one thing that I will say about Tiger is that when we go out, he can drink. He drinks but he never drinks when he has got a tournament. So I think you distinguish those two. If we are just going to Vegas to screw around or we are just going around, he might have a couple of beers or something. If he has got a tournament, he does not drink. .... You can have fun when you are off: Ok, I got a tournament this week. Tiger won’t even do caffeine the week of a tournament. He thought that it screwed up his putting stroke. You know how sometimes caffeine has got you jittery? I mean just simple stuff like that."


I'm sure he is just trying to help out AK and his statements are very interesting about Tiger. The part about no caffeine during tournament weeks makes a lot of sense. If you've ever drank a lot of coffee or soda on the course, or smoked cigarettes while playing, you know it can cause some jitters and shaking.

Tiger Wins AT & T

anthony kim

Tiger Woods won for the 68th time on the PGA tour at the AT & T National today as he held off Hunter Mahan and Anthony Kim. The tournament host shot a three under par 67 which included a key birdie on the 16th hole giving him a one stroke lead, which he did not relinquish.

With the win, Tiger:

• vaults into first place on the PGA tour money list
• takes the lead in the FedEx Cup Standings
  
• closes in on Jack Nicklaus for second place on the all time win list

Sam Snead - 82
Jack Nicklaus - 73
Tiger Woods - 68
Ben Hogan - 64
Arnold Palmer - 62

• wins for the third time this year, most on tour
• wins his last tournament heading into a major (British) for the third time this year
• According to Jim Nantz, Tiger will be donating his entire victory check to the Tiger Woods Foundation

For Tiger's post round interview transcript, click here.

Early Fireworks at AT & T

anthony kim

Anthony Kim shot a course record 62 at the first round of the AT & T National which included eight birdies and no bogeys. Kim is the defending champion, and now seeks his third victory on the PGA Tour. Kim is capable of going very low and making a lot of birdies, which he proved at the Masters earlier this year when he set a record by making 11 birdies in one round.



He will have to fend off tournament host Tiger Woods, who shot a first round 64 and trails Kim by two, along with D.A. Points and Bryce Molder. This year Tiger has already won Arnold Palmer's tournament at Bay Hill and Jack Nicklaus's tournament at the Memorial, and now seeks his third win this year by claiming his own tournament.