Tiger hot on Kim's trail

Woods two off the lead set by defending champion

Last updated: 3rd July 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Tiger hot on Kim's trail

Kim: Great start

I'd like to say it was just me playing fantastic golf, but I got a couple good breaks along the way and drove it pretty well overall.

Anthony Kim
Quotes of the week

First round leaderboard:
US unless stated
-8 A Kim
-6 T Woods
-6 DA Points
-6 B Molder
-5 S Elkington (Aus)

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Defending champion Anthony Kim fired an eight-under-par 62 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the AT&T National at Congressional.

But the American already has Tiger Woods hunting him up after the world number one came in with a 64 to sit alongside Bryce Molder and DA Points.

Kim fired eight birdies - six in his last nine holes - at the rain-softened course in Bethesda, Maryland where he won 12 months ago.

However, the Ryder Cup star has not won since following a series of niggling injuries.

"I got off to a great start. I hit quality golf shots and made putts from 10 to 15 feet," Kim said.

"I'd like to say it was just me playing fantastic golf, but I got a couple good breaks along the way and drove it pretty well overall.

"I did play very well, but that man (Woods) can go out there and shoot 60. I'm not really worried about what he's doing.

Focused

"All I can do is focus on myself. That was the difference. I focused on the shot I was hitting at the time and not the next shot."

Woods' 64 was his lowest round for 22 months and never looked back after opening with successive birdies - the only blemish on his card being a dropped shot at the 11th.

"It was nice to get back inside the ropes and try to catch AK," Woods said. "You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot the first day.

"I put a lot of putts on line and some of them went in. The greens were soft. The course could be had."

New US Open champion Lucas Glover recorded a 69, while Britain's Justin Rose put his recent troubles behind him with an opening 67 that puts him in a tie for ninth.

However, fellow Englishmen Paul Casey and Greg Owen will have their work cut out to make the weekend after shooting rounds of 75.