Kim doesn’t get blown away

SOUTHPORT, England -- Evidence of 23-year-old Anthony Kim’s gigantic talent keeps gushing forth, as when the born-and-raised Angeleno ignored the wide golfing wreckage of a wind-tunnel Saturday and shot a marvel of a 71.

Note: It’s his first British Open and his first try at links golf.

“I actually like playing in this stuff,” he said, such that he eagled No. 17, reached a tie for fifth place after starting in 27th, and failed to go insane after an extraordinary half-hour delay on the bare green of No. 10 that clogged up the flow of play for the day.

He’d just “flushed” a three-iron “and it went about 148” to the green, he cracked, “and I went and marked it and, after [placing] it back down, as I was reading it, the ball was blown about a foot back.

“So I kept waiting and it blew another foot back and I called the rules official and he said when it stops, mark it,” Kim said. Then the gusts impaired the official’s hearing through his earpiece.

“So I marked it and I put the ball behind my coin for the official to see and it rolled probably five or six yards off the green, 15 yards total,” Kim said, whereupon he and playing partner Ross Fisher waited for the wind to ebb somewhat and wondered if officials might suspend play.

Oh, and Kim eventually made par four.

Upon finishing the round, Kim and Fisher hugged each other in recognition of an ordeal, but then Kim gave further confirmation of his caliber when he professed sincere love for the challenge by saying, “This is awesome,” and, “I’m having a blast out there.”

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Another Duval turnaround

The heady two-round rebirth of David Duval turned into a nightmarish Saturday, when he began triple-bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey, par, double-bogey, bogey, bogey.

That foreshadowed an 83, matching Duval’s worst round in a major, but the 2001 champion who free-fell ever since actually bemoaned his score and said, “I can assure you very few people hit the ball better than I did today.”

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Sergio’s putting woes

When pre-tournament favorite Sergio Garcia (nine-over after Saturday) missed a near-gimme on No. 2 on Saturday, it became his third missed putt inside two feet within 20 holes.

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English surprise

A bevy of young-ish Englishmen from Lee Westwood to Paul Casey to Luke Donald to Ian Poulter to Justin Rose have tantalized the motherland’s golfing aficionados while not yet winning a major, so it came as a surprise to find fourth place occupied by the anonymous Simon Wakefield from Stoke-on-Trent, on the outskirts of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Forecasting sleeplessness in completely unfamiliar territory after a brilliant 70, Wakefield, 34, said, “My biggest win so far was the Dimension Data in Sun City two years ago or three years ago, I believe.”

While the prodigies spent their teens angling for glory, Wakefield took up golf only at 15 when he’d chip balls in the backyard against a garden wall, causing gouges and sending his father “ballistic.”

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Faldo’s new view

Nick Faldo, the six-time major champion who once upon a time had little appreciation for golf’s chroniclers, has come to court the British media and appreciate an outstanding story such as Greg Norman.

“This is massive for you guys,” he said. “Don’t choke! Time to get the pressure to you. And you’re not allowed to delete any words, you’ve got to write it in one go. . . . We don’t get to delete shots. . . . No deleting, OK?”