Sparkling trophy at his side, Anthony Kim just wanted to get on the next private jet to Augusta. But they don't give that $1,044,000 first-place check out for just winning the tournament and crushing another man's dream.

There's some responsibility that comes along with the fragile bling.

So after blowing a chance to win the Shell Houston Open on 18 in regulation, after turning around and seizing it on the very first playoff hole, after waiting through an on-green trophy presentation that included the sudden appearance of both George H.W. Bush and bag pipers (because what says Houston like bag pipers!) and a near push into the 18th's supersized water hazard, Kim thought he was done.

Then, someone told him about the need to tape the radio commercial for next year's Shell.

After one take, Kim was asked for more energy by a guy who's last directing credit probably came in high school.

"I've spent all my energy," Kim half-moaned, half-smiled. Whatever it was, the golfer who saved the Houston Open (if heart-broken runner-up Vaughn Taylor wins this thing, it's forgotten by the second day of the Masters, but Kim has real star power) put out triple the enthusiasm he used in reading the canned radio spot's script to do it.

"This is going to be heard all around Houston," the would-be director encouraged.

Somehow, that didn't quite move the 24-year-old multi-millionaire in pure white golf pants and white shoes.

Kim didn't want to do two takes, but after take three, everyone in the room knew this was it. As Kim headed for the door, a guy stepped in to ask if he could take a picture with the Shell champ.

"If you make it real quick man," Kim said, with a half smile. It was so quick that Kim was walking before the flash even finished.

There was no entourage clearing his way though the smiling people though. This marks a big departure for Kim. So much so that the Houston Open may be remembered as the tournament where Anthony Kim grew up — and that'd be a very good thing for a stop on the PGA Tour calendar that continues to search for its identity.

And if you think, Kim's reaction at the radio spot qualified as rude ... well, you haven't spent any time around the Tour or pro athletes any general. Anthony Kim was downright gracious by professional sports star standards. If Tiger Woods had seen it, he probably would have slapped Kim upside the head for sticking around too long.

"I feel like I'm growing up," Kim said. "I'm trying to embrace being a professional."

Vincent Chase Urges

In many ways, Anthony Kim is Vinny Chase in Entourage, the spoiled brat you just want to hate but can't.

I once watched Kim roll into a PGA Championship with the largest posse on the PGA Tour, all young, fresh-faced and cocky like Kim — from hotshot IMG agent Chris Armstrong to the smokin' hot blonde who seemed to be there because ... well, what golf entourage doesn't need a smokin' hot blonde? Experience this and you cannot help but see an over-pampered, overstimulated, overindulged sports star whose opinion of himself far exceeds his actual accomplishments.

Those who stick around and listen to Kim talk tend to have their opinions changed though. Not about the brash and arrogant part. No question, Anthony Kim is so sure of himself that he could shatter Tiger Woods' major record (after Tiger shatters Jack Nicklaus' record) and still think more highly of himself than that Mount Rushmore situation would even dictate. But the guy who readily admits that he fell in love with vodka shots and the club scene that goes with them — and isn't exactly swearing off either now — is trying to see beyond the next hot blonde.

"Especially with the way the economy is right now and the way people are struggling, I don't want to kick sand in their face by having a bad attitude out here," Kim said.

Kim swears he thought of that even when he missed a five-foot putt on 18 that would have given him the win on the tournament's 72nd hole. Thanks to a gigantic cough, Kim suddenly found himself in a playoff with Vaughn Taylor, an Augusta boy who needed to win the Houston Open to earn an invite to the Masters. But for once, Kim's clubs weren't in immediate danger.

"Two years ago that bag might have been in the water," the 24-year-old Kim said, flashing a mischievous grin that told you the thought at least crossed his mind today too. "I might not have had clubs to use in the playoff."

This playoff only lasted one hole as Kim faced down the beast of a water hazard that runs down the left side of 18 (Kim and Taylor played No, 18 twice in a row, with it being the designated first sudden-death playoff hole as well as the every round finisher). "That water ... there were waves in that water," Kim laughed. Nerves can even make it look like Houston has an ocean.

But Kim focused on the spot he'd trained himself to focus on all tournament when it came to No. 18 — a good, old fashioned Humble, Texas telephone line stretching across the sky. Look at the telephone line and you don't see the water.

Kim promptly hit a perfect drive into the middle of the fairway. Taylor couldn't find such inner peace, couldn't collect his thoughts, couldn't even settle on a swing — and his ball landed deep in a right-side bunker, burying all his Masters' hopes in the sand. There were more shots to hit, but the Houston Open was essentially over.

"I didn't quite get committed," Taylor said, his eyes red, his voice shot and his schedule this Masters' week very uncomfortably clear. "There were so many things going through my head."

Taylor isn't a star and never will be. Kim is and it would have been disaster if he hadn't been able to crush this opponent's will.

Upping the Houston Open's profile

Now, Kim has his third career Tour victory, and the Houston Open has its most marquee winner in years — at least since Fred Couples in 2003. This is bigger than Paul Casey last year (even though that was Casey's first career win) because Kim is a being marketed as a bigger star. In many ways, he's Nike's great post-Tiger hope. Kim will be in a ton of commercials before long.

This from a guy who's still refreshingly open. Kim talked about the temptations of text messages from women who just want to be "his friend" long before Tiger's globe-reaching, text-message scandal broke. Of course, Kim isn't married, but he usually brings his longtime girlfriend along to tournaments.

Even now with all the sudden paranoia on Tour concerning mistresses (think Tiger is the only one who had a stable? You deserve a job as a press agent), Kim isn't trying to pretend he's transforming into a choir boy.

"I look at life differently," Kim said. "I like to have fun. I like to enjoy what I have."

There's still plenty of Vincent Chase in Anthony Kim. Only Kim is shorter, smarter — and real.

You don't find much of that last attribute in pro sports anymore. So Kim did that third take — and now he's shifting to Augusta, leaving a few blurry pictures behind.