Kim opens with a course-record 62 at Congressional

BETHESDA, Md. — As the tournament host, Tiger Woods took one glance at the leaderboard and realized that overnight rain left Congressional far too soft for his taste at the AT&T National.

Anthony Kim, the defending champion, already finished the first round at 8-under 62, a course record and Kim’s best ever on the PGA Tour. And that was only good enough for a two-shot lead over D.A. Points.

Woods then put on his hat as the No. 1 player in the world, and realized he had better play hard.

He promptly birdied the first two holes, made the turn 31, and made sure Kim didn’t get too far away. Woods added a few more birdies late Thursday afternoon for a 64, his lowest round since the end of the 2007 season.

“You know you have to shoot something in the 60s, obviously,” Woods said. “Then again, you’re going to have the same conditions they had the very next day — calm in the morning, good greens — and even if you don’t get it the first day, you can always get it the second day.”

Woods gets that chance to close the gap Friday morning.

Even so, the opening day of the AT&T National belonged to a familiar face who had been lost over the last six months.

Kim showed so much potential last year, winning at Quail Hollow and Congressional, energizing the Americans in a rare Ryder Cup victory, coming within one birdie putt of a playoff at the Tour Championship.

But pesky injuries kept getting in the way, his devotion to fitness took a break, and the results suffered. After a runner-up start to the year at Kapalua, the 24-year-old Kim had not recorded a top-10 finish.

He said his left thumb, the latest injury, was nearly healed. His workouts gained intensity over the past month. Players walked past him on the range and commented on his toned shape.

His strength was back. So was his swagger.

Kim ran off eight birdies over the final 13 holes, so locked in to the shot in front of him that he was mildly miffed when his 10-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth to end his round caught the edge of the cup.

Apparently, eight wasn’t enough.

“You don’t have many opportunities to bust a 61,” Kim said.

He quickly found that a 62 wasn’t too bad, especially after learning it was a course record. Tom Pernice Jr. and Peter Lonard each had 63 a year ago, while Matt Gogel had a 63 in the opening round at Congressional in 2005 when it was the Booz Allen Classic.

And no one could catch him, not even the tournament host.

Bryce Molder played a practice round early Tuesday morning, going through the motions to learn the course, and he didn’t recall seeing too many birdie opportunities on the famed Blue Course. With a pencil in hand, he birdied the first two holes, added birdies on the fourth and fifth holes, and wound up with a 64 to join Woods and Points.

“I don’t know what to say about that, other than I think I just went out there with no expectations other than just trying to hit the first fairway and go from there,” Molder said. “And on a golf course like this, you have to play it like that.”

Steve Elkington had a 65, while Jim Furyk led the group of players at 66. Three dozen players in the 120-man field wound up shooting in the 60s, including U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover at 69, and nearly half were at par or better.

Woods rolled in a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-3 second hole, and a 30-footer on the 12th. That helped him to his 64, and it never hurts to see the ball go in the hole, especially coming off a U.S. Open when he couldn’t make anything.

“Just part of golf,” Woods said. “You have weeks, and you have days, when you putt well. And other times, you don’t.”

This was one of those days to score well, mainly because of overnight rain that softened the course. It kept tee shots from rolling through the fairway, and allowed players to take aim at the flags.

That’s right up Kim’s alley, although he showed far more discipline Thursday, attacking only when it made sense. Kim only missed one green, coming up just short on the 18th and pitching down the ridge to 3 feet. His longest par putt was from 4 feet on two occasions, and he made both to make it 40 consecutive holes at Congressional without a bogey dating to the third round last year.

The trick now is to keep going, and the gallery would love to see Woods stay right there with him.

“Hopefully, we can both get into that situation,” Woods said. “But we have a long way to go before it happens.”