Saturday, October 31, 2009

Allenby reaps his mouth's reward

Shortly after losing to Anthony Kim in their singles match at last month's Presidents Cup, Robert Allenby made some disparaging remarks about Kim having been out drinking late the night before.
It was a classless move by Allenby, and even though the two reportedly had met to clear the air, it seems Kim hasn't forgotten what was said.
The duo met up today during the semifinals of the World Match Play Championships in Casares, Spain and Kim exacted some revenge on Allenby with a 5 & 4 victory to advance to the finals against Angel Cabrera.
But it wasn't the win itself that gave Kim his vengeance, it was how he went about it. During the first half of the 36-hole semifinal, Kim refused to concede any putt to Aleenby, no matter how short the length. Usually in match play a short putt is concede quickly, but Kim was having none of it in the early part of the match and by the time they completed the first round Allenby was displeased.
Having gotten under Allenby's skin, Kim finally pulled away in the latter part of their second 18 holes of the day as Allenby struggled to make any putts.
Getting in your opponent's head is part of the strategy of match play and Kim did that brilliantly on Saturday, but it would not have been possible if Allenby hadn't opened the door with his mouth last month in San Francisco.
It will be interesting to see if Allenby has learned his lesson this time and declines to make any additional disparaging comments about this victory by Kim in the next few days.

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