After breakthrough win, what is next for Anthony Kim?

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- His words had a touch of irony to them.

Kim: "I'm just looking forward to the future now." (Getty Images)

Wachovia: Round 4

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"It's been a long ride, but it sure is worth it," Anthony Kim said after he won the Wachovia Championship on Sunday.

Understand, now, that Kim is just 22 years, 10 months and 15 days old so long is a relative term. He'd just won his first PGA TOUR event -- setting records for margin of victory and strokes under par in the process -- in just his 38th start.

So there are those who would say Kim actually is on the fast track, literally as well as figuratively. In reality, though, it was a victory the Californian had thought would come much sooner and one he clearly cherished.

When the final putt dropped in a round of 69 and a final tally of 16-under par, Kim pumped his fist twice and exclaimed, "Yes." As he walked toward the white columned pavilion at Quail Hollow Club, Kim doffed his hat and bowed deep before the crowd.

"I'm a little bit numb right now, but that walk up 18 was the best feeling in my entire life, and I'll never forget that feeling," he said. "I had chills going up and down my spine. I want to recreate that as many times as possible now, so I'm going to really work hard."

A year ago, though, Kim wasn't putting in that kind of effort. He wasn't hitting the range or the practice green or the gym. He calls himself an "immature kid" last year, and he even remembers bypassing practice swings to conserve his energy for the next shot.

"I think if I had won last year, my practicing would have gone down to even less, and there wasn't much to go down," Kim said, only half-joking. "I might have been playing on the Hooters Tour. It might have been the best thing for me, just to get slapped in the face and realize that I can't win out here without practicing and giving it my all and focusing on every golf shot and on every practice round.

"That did wonders for me this year, and I'm just looking forward to the future now."

And make no mistake about it, that future is bright. Kim now ranks fourth on the FedExCup points list and sixth in earnings after the $1.152 million paycheck pushed him over $2 million for the year.

"He's got a lot of talent," Robert Allenby, who used a 66 to finish fourth at Quail Hollow on Sunday, said. "He's still very young. I feel like I'm an old man compared to him, and I'm only 36, but I'm still a lot older than him ...

"That's the great thing, when you're that young, you've got to make the most of it because once you get a little bit older that's when the brain starts thinking too much, and that's when you get in the way of yourself. (Sunday) he just let himself go and just freed it up, and that's why he's playing so well."

A pitching wedge that landed 5 feet from the hole on No. 1 set the tone for the day. Kim, who bypassed his senior year at Oklahoma to turn pro, went on to shoot 32 on the front using just 11 putts, and he led by seven at the turn.

Kim later admitted he would have been happy for nine pars "and a maybe a birdie," he was quickly to add. "But I felt like my game was really coming around and when it came down to crunch time that I would be there," he said.

There would be no crunch on Sunday, though.

"It was very impressive,' said Kim's playing partner, Heath Slocum, who added he just was hoping to get caught up in the tailwind. "From the get-go, he put his foot on the gas and he never let off."

Consecutive birdies at the 14th and 15th holes moved Kim to 18 under and seven strokes ahead of Ben Curtis, who had finished about 90 minutes ahead of the winner. Jason Bohn was playing in the penultimate group and checked the scoreboard on the 17th tee.

Kim set a tournament record at Quail Hollow. (Getty Images)

"I said, 'He's 18 under par? Holy cow,'" Bohn, who finished third, said. "I really had to ask, "Is that right? Is he 18 or am I reading that wrong?" But I mean, take your hat off; that's outstanding golf right there."

A year ago, Kim was something of a lightning rod on TOUR for what Jim Furyk, who finished seventh, calls his "swagger and style." He's heeded advice from guys like Mark O'Meara and Jeff Sluman, though, and Kim has undergone quite an attitude adjustment.

Truth be told, Kim's actually had a big dose of perspective in his life. He learned to love the game by sitting in his high chair and watching his father hit balls. Years later, though, he felt his dad pressuring him, and the estrangement, now ended, lasted two years.

More recently, the Saturday before the Verizon Heritage, Kim's girlfriend, Lisa Pruitt, stepped on a glass and severed a muscle in her foot. He says the accident made him realize how fragile life can be, another step in the on-going maturity process that paved the way toward Sunday's win.

Now Kim is a PGA TOUR champion, exempt through the 2010 season, and he's bound for his first Masters. With a trio of top-three finishes already this year, he'll go to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., this week among the favorites at THE PLAYERS Championship, too.

All that matters to Kim, though, is the realization of his long-time goal.

"I haven't even thought about all that, but just getting the monkey off my back," Kim said. "This has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I'm living it. I couldn't ask for anything more.

"This is a great field, and to come out on top here is more than enough. I don't need all that other stuff, even though it's a perk. But it just feels great to be on top here."