THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Four days after Anthony Kim humbled Sergio Garcia in
the Ryder Cup, he beat 29 players just as badly Thursday at the Tour
Championship.
Showing no effects of a Ryder Cup hangover, Kim fired off eight
birdies on his way to a 6-under 64 in his Tour Championship debut to
build a four shot lead over Masters champion Trevor Immelman, Ernie
Els and Phil Mickelson.
Kim and the other nine Americans from the winning team rarely got
through a hole without hearing someone in the gallery congratulate
them on their 16-1/2 11-1/2 victory over Europe on Sunday. Kim was
smiling just as wide as he did Thursday.
"I feel like when I’m happy, having a good time, I’m going to
make some birdies," he said. "So it was a good vibe out there."
Vijay Singh wasn’t feeling it.
He only has to complete all four rounds at East Lake to capture
the FedEx Cup, and that might have been the best part of his opening
round at East Lake — he finished. But he started poorly, 5-over
through 11 holes, before settling for a 73.
Kenny Perry, the Kentucky hero from the Ryder Cup, also found
little reason to smile. He opened with a 76, and while that won’t
take away from his memories of red, white and blue, what irritated
him was a pink slip.
It was his summons for drug testing, the second of the year for
the 48-year-old Perry.
Good thing the 23-year-old Kim had four days to try to get the
Ryder Cup out of his system. He was the life of the party Sunday
night, especially after his 5-and-4 victory over Garcia in which Kim
made birdie or better on six of his 14 holes.
"Just trying to enjoy the moment," he said. "This Ryder Cup
hangover doesn’t feel as bad as a college hangover."
As well as he played at the Ryder Cup on a Valhalla course with
soft greens and minimal rough, Kim was equally spectacular on an
East Lake course that was tough as ever.
Golf balls disappeared in Bermuda rough that was only two inches
deep. The real challenge was getting the ball close to the cup on
greens that were rebuilt in the spring. It usually takes a few years
for new greens to settle, making them particularly firm. Add to that
gusts up to 15 mph on a warm, dry afternoon and it’s no wonder only
five players broke par.
K.J. Choi was the other with a 1-under 69.
Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., was tied for sixth after
shooting a 70.
The real marvel was Kim posting eight birdies in his round of 64
in his Tour Championship debut. He attributes most of that to a
simple fix in his putting before he teed off.
"It was the most basic thing you can think — keep you eye on the
ball," Kim said. "Now that I’ve got that under control, I’m going
to try to make some more putts."
He didn’t have to make them from very far.
Kim hit sand wedge to 2 feet on the third hole and to 3 feet on
the fourth. The longest putt he made came from just behind the 11th
green when he knocked in a 25 footer to start building a gap between
him and the rest of the field that made it to the final event in the
PGA Tour Playoffs.
"I didn’t really know what score was out there," Kim said. "I
had heard the greens were really receptive last year, so I didn’t
know what to expect. And obviously, it took me a couple of days to
get over that celebration that we had on Sunday night, so I wasn’t
expecting too much. Just taking what the course gave me."
What was so tough about that American party?
"I did a lot of reading that night," Kim said, smiling. "My
eyes were tired."
The drama is gone from the FedEx Cup — Singh made sure of that
with two victories — but perhaps there is one race that could come
down to the wire.
Mickelson has a chance to win the Vardon Trophy for the lowest
adjusted scoring average, and at 69.52 he leads Garcia (69.53) by
one hundredth of a point. Mickelson at least needs to finish ahead
of the Spaniard to capture his first major award on the PGA Tour.
Kim, however, is one tenth of a point behind at 69.62. Scoring
averages cannot be computed until the end of the week, because
scores are adjusted based on the average field score for the
tournament.
"It would be cool," Mickelson said when asked about the Vardon
Trophy. "I don’t really understand the mathematics of the scoring
average, because it’s not really your score."
But he understood a 68 and was pleased with it.
Mickelson made the turn at 4-under thanks to some putting that
has been missing most of the year. One errant shot struck a small
girl in the knee, and before Mickelson could check on her, his
caddie brought some levity to the moment.
"Have you seen our Crowne Plaza commercials?" he said,
referring to one scene when Mickelson meets with various fans he has
hit in the gallery over the years.
Kim hit mainly fairways and greens, and he took only 26 putts for
to match his lowest scores of the year and post his fifth
consecutive round in the 60s on the PGA Tour. He played with Weir,
who watched some of the Ryder Cup on Sunday. He was asked if he saw
any of Kim’s match against Garcia.
"I saw the start," Weir said. "He got off to a great start."
Four days later, Kim hasn’t slowed a bit.