GOLF US TOUR:ANTHONY KIM continues his return from thumb surgery this week knowing that American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin is keeping a close eye on him.
The Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, is Kim’s third event back. He finished 76th out of 80 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and missed the cut in the US PGA Championship.
Those two performances proved costly. Second on the Ryder Cup table when he decided to have an operation in May, he was fifth when he came back but was overtaken in the last two weeks by Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar. As a result the 25-year-old, whose singles thrashing of Sergio Garcia in Kentucky two years ago was key to the United States’ win, needs one of Pavin’s four wild cards on September 7th.
Providing he is able to show some form in the next three weeks he should get one, but Pavin said: “Absolutely it’s a concern. I spoke with him last week and he said it’s getting better. It’s certainly not 100 per cent, but he’s going to be working hard. Believe me, I will be monitoring it very closely. He’s certainly on my list – there are a lot of guys on it. I’ll have to wait and see how he’s responding.”
None of the eight already certain of their places on Pavin’s team play this week and nor does Tiger Woods, who will have been encouraged by Pavin’s words about him on Monday. Asked for the pros and cons of giving him a wild card the US captain said: “He’s the number one player in the world – that’s a pretty good pro. He’s playing better. I think we have all seen that and he wants to play, he wants to be a part of the team. I don’t think there are any cons.”
Henrik Stenson is the highest-ranked of the European contingent at the event. The Swede has had a desperate time since contracting a chest virus after the British Open last month and has fared even worse than Kim in the last two weeks.
Stenson may have conceded defeat in his battle to keep his Ryder Cup place as he lies only 27th in the standings – despite his third-place finish at the British Open – and with Justin Rose, Luke Donald and Pádraig Harrington needing wild cards his hopes of being selected hang by a thread.
THE WYNDHAM
Course: Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, North Carolina.
Length: 7,130 yards. Par: 70.
Prizemoney: €3.9 million (€712,794 for the winner)
Layout: Tightish fairways with the rough of Bermuda grass and greens of Bentgrass. There are many creeks with one pond and 48 bunkers to keeps minds in focus.
Field: 156.
Defending champion: Ryan Moore won after a play-off.
On TV: Sky Sports 3 (8pm today).
Weather forecast: Very hot with temperatures of 32 degrees and the chance of storms.
Time difference: North Carolina is five hours behind Ireland.
