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CommentsAnthony Kim is regaining a lot of his strength and a little of his swagger. He can only hope his record start Thursday at the AT&T National in Bethesda, Md., will allow him to get rid of some frustration built up from a year of not winning.
Kim ran off eight birdies over his final 13 holes and set the course record at Congressional with an 8-under-par 62, giving him a two-shot lead over tournament host Tiger Woods and two others.
The 24-year-old Kim has not won since the AT&T National last year, slowed by an assortment of injuries that caused his game to slip just as he was being anointed the next great American player.
It was the best round of his pro career, although Kim walked off the par-5 ninth green slightly perturbed after narrowly missing a 10-foot birdie putt. Apparently, eight birdies wasn’t enough.
“You don’t have many opportunities to bust a 61,” Kim said.
But it was enough to hold off Woods, who missed his tournament last year after having season-ending knee surgery. Woods played in the afternoon with deceptive wind swirling from trees lining the fairways. He missed two fairways and three greens, and he made enough putts for a 64, his lowest round since the 2007 Tour Championship.
Three dozen players shots in the 60s, including Jim Furyk in the group at 66 and U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover at 69.
TRACKING RYAN MOORE
This week: PGA Tour’s AT&T Classic, through Sunday, at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.
First-round score: 1-under-par 69.
Position: Moore is tied for 20th, seven strokes behind leader Anthony Kim, who set the course record with a 62.
Recap: Take away Kim, or even host Tiger Woods, who shot a 64, and Moore’s round was pretty solid. He didn’t have many scoring chances, either scrambling with chips from around the greens or facing long birdie putts of 35 feet or longer. That is why he made 17 pars and one birdie – on the par-4 fourth when he hit his 144-yard, 9-iron approach shot close, then sank a 10-foot putt.
Tee time today: 9:12 a.m. (PDT).
Todd Milles, The News Tribune
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