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Kim, Garcia To Face Off Again

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 27, 2008

ATLANTA - Anthony Kim and Sergio Garcia did enough Friday at the Tour Championship to set up a Ryder Cup rematch.

Kim had to settle for a 1-under 69 on Friday, making bogey from the bunker on the final hole, to take a two-shot lead over Sergio Garcia and put them in the final pairing just six days after their leadoff singles match at the Ryder Cup.

Kim won that match, 5 and 4, and the Americans followed him to victory at Valhalla.

The differences are obvious. This is not match play. At stake is $1.26 million, not a 17-inch gold trophy to share. There are 36 holes remaining. And it's not unusual for top players to be paired together on the PGA Tour.

Even so, it brought some much-needed energy to this event because they are playing so shortly after the Ryder Cup.

"We had one play of golf - really, 14 holes of golf," Kim said, trying to downplay the pairing and instead drawing laughter.

Kim was at 7-under 133, and while he will have a 2-up lead of sorts today at East Lake, the momentum might lie with Garcia. He was 4 over through his first six holes of the tournament, rallied for a 70, then followed that with nearly flawless play for a 65.

Not to be forgotten was Kim's tag-team partner from the Ryder Cup - Phil Mickelson, who ran off five birdies over the last seven holes for a 68 that put him three shots behind.

And there's more at stake than just a big check and an elite title for the winner. Mickelson, Garcia and Kim are the top contenders to win the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average on the PGA Tour.

They were among six players in the 30-man field who managed to break par over two days, joined by Camilo Villegas (66) at 2-under 138, and K.J. Choi (70) and Mike Weir (69) at 139.

LPGA: Recharged after a month off, Lorena Ochoa shot her second straight 5-under 67 to move within a stroke of leader Janice Moodie halfway through the Navistar LPGA Classic at Prattville, Ala.

The top-ranked Ochoa is making her first start since tying for sixth in the Safeway Classic on Aug. 24, her fourth top-seven finish in a row, but her seventh straight winless start. She opened the year with six wins in nine starts, including four in a row.

Moodie followed her opening 66 with a 67 on the links-style Senator Course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Capitol Hill complex.

Jill McGill shot a 69 to match Ochoa at 10 under.

CHAMPIONS: Bruce Fleisher, Dana Quigley, Eduardo Romero, Andy Bean, Don Pooley and Chip Beck shot 4-under 68s to share the first-round lead at the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C.

Tom Kite, Loren Roberts and Kirk Hanefeld were a stroke back, and Larry Mize opened with a 70 in his Champions Tour debut.

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