DraftKings preview: RBC Heritage

One thing in particular unites International team

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It's hard to believe it’s been a decade since Anthony Kim's last PGA TOUR victory, at the 2010 Vivint Houston Open. And it goes without saying the fiery Californian's dynamic presence is sorely missed. The talent, the swagger, the energy, and the passion were an inspiration, even to his U.S. teammates during the 2008 Ryder Cup and 2009 Presidents Cup. Kim last appeared on the PGA TOUR eight years ago, at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship. No one really knows the state of his game these days, nor his plans for the future. All we have are the occasional videos and candid pictures on social media, some of which show him hitting a few balls or grabbing lunch in West Hollywood. Imagine watching Kim in full flight against the Rorys, Rahms, and Koepkas of today's world, or even the new breed of challengers like Wolff and Morikawa. It's safe to say the whole golfing world wants Kim back, but until that day comes, we'll content ourselves with the remembrance of things past—in this case, Kim's gear from that win at the 2010 Vivint Houston Open. Houston was his third win on the PGA TOUR. He was just 24 years old. He finished third in the following week's Masters, his best showing in a major. Kim, who was a head-to-toe Nike athlete (before Nike left the hard goods business), had a one-shot lead going into the 72nd hole. Needing a par to win, he bogeyed the final hole to fall into a playoff against Vaughn Taylor, which Kim won with a par on the first playoff hole. His bag was always pretty locked in, from irons down to wedges. He worked with then-Nike master craftsman Mike Taylor (now of Artisan Golf). Kim was very specific about turf interaction and ensuring that a left miss was all but impossible. The woods are a different story. Kim tried multiple setups during his career, going from a driver, low-lofted hybrid, 2-iron setup all the way to a driver, 3-wood, 5-wood setup. It wasn't until his third full year on TOUR that he finally found a 3-wood he liked. WRX spoke with then-Nike Tour Technician Ben Giunta about Kim's gear. This is what he had to say GolfWRX: Not sure if TrackMan was really a thing back then but what kind of numbers did Kim put up? Giunta: So, this was kind of weird in an era where TrackMan is everywhere but I honestly don't recall using a Trackman with Kim. 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. GolfWRX: Did Mike Taylor do anything special to his irons, or were they standard Nike blades? Giunta: I'm sure Mike Taylor 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. Fifty-four and 59 degrees every time with some specific toe-heel grinding on the 59. He was an incredible wedge player. GolfWRX: Anything special overall you did for his equipment that stands out? Giunta: He 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. Kim wasn't much of a tech guy, didn't care much about what the product should do, just wanted it to work. One hundred percent feel. Let’s take a look at what he had in the bag for his win at Houston in 2010. Driver: Nike VR Pro LTD (9.5 degrees @10) Shaft: UST AxivCore Tour Black 79 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Burner TS (13 degrees) Shaft: UST AxivCore Tour Black 89 X 5-wood: Nike Sasquatch Dyno (19 degrees) Shaft: UST AxivCore Tour Black 89 X Irons: Nike VR Pro MB (3-PW) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Wedges: Nike VR Pro "MT Grind" (54, 59 degrees) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Select Circle T Newport 2 Grip: Scotty Cameron Pistol Red Full Cord Grips: Golf Pride BCT 60R Ball: Nike One Platinum

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Odysseus and Telemachus; Marlin and Nemo; Jellybean and Kobe Bryant. History, real and imagined, is so thick with fathers and sons that the temptation is to get carried away at the PNC Championship, where Tiger and Charlie Woods will be the headliners for the third straight year at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando. The swings! The mannerisms! The outfits! Hang on, though. Slow down. Tiger is just a man, and a hobbled one, at that. Charlie is just 13. “I want him to enjoy whatever he’s doing,” Woods said in their first joint interview at the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship in Kinder, Louisiana. And there it is, the through line to which all else must adhere. Joy. “Hey, Charlie, you gotta practice this,” Lee Trevino said last year while giving Team Woods an impromptu clinic on the PNC’s driving range. Trevino and Woods disagreed on who was the best-ever ball-striker, each citing the other, and at one point Woods doubled over laughing. Tiger thinks a lot about fatherhood these days. Much of his induction speech into the World Golf Hall of Fame in March recalled how he snuck onto courses with his dad Earl to skirt the age-limit restrictions, and how Earl and Kultida took out a second mortgage so Tiger could travel the country to play American Junior Golf Association events. His hopes this week? To feel well enough to play. That Charlie does well. It’s different for Charlie. He wants to beat his friend Justin Thomas, who will play with his dad, Mike, who coaches Charlie and with whom Justin won the PNC Championship in 2020. Oh, and Tiger and Charlie also wouldn’t mind winning. Last year Team Woods made 11 straight birdies in the final round, finishing second to John Daly and John II. It was enjoyable for all. “The competitive juices, they are never going to go away,” Tiger said then. “This is my environment. This is what I’ve done my entire life. I’m just so thankful to be able to have this opportunity to do it again.” They’ll do it again this weekend with the scramble format Saturday and Sunday. And we’ll watch. Old and Young Tom Morris. Jack and Gary Nicklaus. Craig and Kevin Stadler. Dave Stockton and Dave Stockton, Jr. Johnny and Andy Miller. Al and Brent Geiberger. Bill and Jay Haas. We warm to these stories, the perks (top instruction, optimized gear), challenges (unfair expectations, incessant scrutiny), and debate (nature versus nurture, DNA versus drive) always the same but not. Has any player ever labored under a shadow like the one cast by Tiger Woods? The PNC is where we gather for all of it. Charlie may have to carry Team Woods, what with Tiger battling plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He was rusty in The Match last week as he and FedExCup champ Rory McIlroy fell to the super-duo of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. “Play hard, partner,” Woods said. The 12-hole exhibition under the lights came a month after Charlie shot 72-69-71 for a 1-under total of 212 as he finished 11th in Louisiana. Tiger caddied. “Get the misses tighter,” Charlie said of his golf goals. “Practice more. Just have fun.” And would Tiger be a first-ballot Hall of Famer as a caddie? “He forgot my putter a few times,” Charlie said. “That’s about it.” Tiger didn’t miss much when enjoyment meant world domination. At his Hall of Fame speech, the winner of 82 PGA TOUR titles, 15 majors, said he remains conflicted about the famous Presidents Cup tie as darkness fell on South Africa … nearly two decades ago. But he’s softened as a dad even while indulging in the gamesmanship that his father visited upon him: the well-timed jangling of coins, ripping of Velcro, and/or clearing of throat. “If I can get into his head,” Tiger said of Charlie, “that means someone else can get into his head. It’s going to get to a point where I can’t get into his head, and then no one else can.” As a father, Tiger’s life is complicated by his celebrity. As a player it’s more complicated still. Intending to play in the recent Hero World Challenge, the tournament he hosts in the Bahamas, he took barefoot walks on sand, but it backfired, and he withdrew before the Hero even began. Officially, Woods played just three times in 2022, making the cut at the Masters, making the cut but withdrawing with leg pain at the PGA Championship, and missing the cut by nine at The Open Championship. It was at St. Andrews, he said, that his leg basically stopped working. He turned his attention to Charlie. During the Presidents Cup in September, when Woods could have been in the back room for U.S. Captain Davis Love III, he was carrying Charlie’s clubs as the kid posted a career-low 68 in a qualifier for the Begay III tournament. That, along with managing the delicate titration of rest and rehab, is Tiger Woods on the verge of his 47th birthday on Dec. 30. Out: Just Win, Baby. In: Dad life. No shame in that. At the PNC, where Team Daly will defend, Team Trevino will lead the field in Strokes Gained: Merriment, and Team Woods will no doubt dazzle in their Sunday red, it’s the entire point.

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