Second thoughts

Golf recluse must decide if he'll play

Oft-injured golfer Anthony Kim faces the difficult decision of cashing out a $10 million insurance policy and ending his career or returning to the PGA Tour.
Oft-injured golfer Anthony Kim faces the difficult decision of cashing out a $10 million insurance policy and ending his career or returning to the PGA Tour.

Anthony Kim hasn't played golf since 2012.

Kim, the phenom who has become golf's greatest mystery since vanishing from the PGA Tour, is mulling an impossible decision.

According to a new article by Sports Illustrated's Alan Shipnuck, Kim has an insurance policy that covers him in the event of a career ending injury. The policy will pay him $10 million tax-free if he never plays again, one source told Shipnuck. Kim's friend told SI the policy was worth more than $10 million, saying, "He's trying to weigh the risk of coming back. The way he's phrased it to me is, 'If I take one swing on Tour, the policy is voided.' "

Kim hasn't played since he tore his Achilles in the summer of 2012. Before that he dealt with an avalanche of injuries to his forearm, wrist, and thumb that derailed his career after a breakout season in 2008 -- where he won two tournaments and earned $4.6 million in prize money.

He withdrew from three consecutive tournaments in April and May 2012, and hasn't been heard from since.

Shipnuck calls him a "recluse." He lives in Dallas, but no reporters have spoken to him. It's unclear if he has played much golf. Fellow golfers have lost contact with him. He grew his hair so long that a golf course worker that Shipnuck talked to said he looks like "a hobo."

Beers to you

Major NFL sponsor Anheuser-Busch says they are "disappointed and increasingly concerned" by recent incidents. And that they have shared their concerns and expectations with the league.

Wrote Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: "When you give a beer company the moral high ground, you know you have a problem."

Ejected

Umpire Tim Welke heard a foul-mouthed fan heckling Bryce Harper and decided it was time for the man to go.

Welke took off his mask, pointed to the fan and ejected him from Turner Field in Atlanta during Tuesday night's game between the Washington Nationals and Braves.

"There's no place for that," Welke told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "Forget that it was directed at that player. Enough is enough."

At a time when bad behavior in sports is attracting a lot of attention, Welke's swift action drew applause from some fans sitting near the obscenity-shouting man.

The longtime crew chief said he saw the fan come down to the backstop and start shouting in the sixth inning. Welke turned around, identified the man and had an usher escort him away.

"Hey! Hey! Get rid of that guy!" Welke can be heard on video from the game. "Get rid of him now! Get rid of him!"

Welke said Harper thanked him the next time he came up. The umpire said he told the Nationals star: "It's OK to boo ya, but it's not OK to use that kind of language."

Welke has umpired for more than 30 seasons in the majors and worked the World Series four times. He said this was the second time this year he tossed a fan. He also ejected a profane person in Kansas City.

"Nobody should have to listen to that," he said.

Sports quiz

What is Anthony Kim's best finish in one of golf's four majors?

Answer

Kim finished third in the 2010 Masters.

Sports on 09/18/2014

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