Kim trailing the tail of the Tiger

LONG before it was over, the 2009 AT&T National had become a character study of the reigning sovereign (Tiger Woods) and the man who could be king (Anthony Kim).

The former has been golf’s most jaw-dropping natural talent for most of the last 15 years, the latter the most promising up-and-comer for the last 15 months. So when Woods and golf’s would-be Tiger clashed at the AT&T National at Congressional over the weekend, few could imagine a more compelling scenario.

Despite a surprise run by Hunter Mahan (62, 12-under), Woods prevailed, shooting a final-round 67 to edge Mahan by one stroke and Kim by four. It was Woods’s 68th career win.

On a course softened by a month of rain, Kim fired the first 62 in the first round, which broke the course record. Woods took control with a 66 on Friday morning, while Kim struggled to a 70 in the afternoon.

“I’m not out here to watch Tiger,” Kim said when asked about Woods’s round. “I didn’t pay $30 to come out. I know he’s obviously the best player in the world. We’re all out here trying to beat everyone’s brains out.”

While Kim said all the right things, Woods spoke louder with his clubs on Sunday. He did just enough, rolling in a 20-foot birdie on the 16th for the winning margin, and seems to be finding form just in time for the British Open at Turnberry in two weeks.

Then again, he won two weeks before the Masters (Bay Hill) and two weeks before the US Open (Memorial), and won neither of those majors.

“Hopefully I can play like I did this week and continue to build next week,” Woods said.

At the AT&T he was somewhere in between, better than so-so but not at his best, either. But it was the cast, not the golfing brilliance, that gave this tournament its sizzle.

Kim birdied the first hole Sunday to go to 11-under, a shot ahead of Woods, which perhaps should have come as no surprise. He craves the big stage. Kim picked up his first victory at major-worthy Quail Hollow last year, and his second at Tiger’s AT&T. Then came his Ryder Cup heroics, including a decisive victory over Sergio Garcia.

The experts had plenty of explanations for Kim’s subsequent dip in form. He was injured. He played too much overseas. He didn’t care anymore. A better explanation is a sort of combination of the others: He’s still just 23.

Woods, 33, is not one to relinquish his grasp without an epic fight, and after falling behind Sunday he reasserted himself with birdies on six and seven.

Looking like so many players who have wilted in the presence of Woods, Kim bogeyed five and whiffed a short par putt on eight. Although Woods returned the favour by missing his short birdie putt, his lead over Kim was suddenly three strokes with 10 holes left.

“You just go about your business,” Woods said. “The great thing about golf is you just play your own game. You know, you can’t physically intimidate anybody. You hit the ball long, you hit the ball short, you have the same chance to shoot a low score.”

Kim signed for a final-round 71.

“I feel I’m one of the top players in the world, I just need to take care of careless mistakes. I made a couple early,” Kim said. “I’ll learn a lot from this, I’m taking a lot of positives away.”