Live notes: First round of THE TOUR Championship

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Anthony Kim is in charge at East Lake after shooting a 6-under 64 to lead by four shots.

THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola is the final stage of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, and PGATOUR.COM's crew is on the scene. We'll provide continuous coverage of Thursday's first round, so check back often.
FIRST ROUND: Leaderboard | PGA TOUR Shot Tracker | FedExCup points projection | Photo gallery

LARGEST 18-HOLE LEADS (8 p.m. ET): Anthony Kim's four-shot lead going into Friday's second round ties for the largest 18-hole on TOUR this year. -- Stewart Moore

DISTANCE REPORT (7 p.m. ET): Here are the longest drives and longest putts in Thursday's first round:

TALE OF TWO NINES FOR LEFTY (6:40 p.m.): After nine holes Thursday, Phil Mickelson was at 4 under and leading the tournament. Four back-nine bogeys later and Mickelson finds himself, well, four shots back of the lead.

Mickelson

"It's a tough course. I thought I played well on both," he said. "I made a few bogeys on the back, but I'm pleased with 2-under. I'll take it. This is the last tournament of the year for me, so I'm trying to -- I'm certainly up for it."

One reason things were so tough, according to Mickelson, were the greens.

"[The] golf course is playing very tough because the greens weren't holding," he said. "We knew that was going to happen. When the greens are young the ball doesn't hold as well. But it was playing very tough today, and I'll take anything under par."

18-HOLE LEADERS (6:33 p.m. ET): Ten times since the inaugural TOUR Championship in 1987 has the 18-hole leader gone on to win. That's a good sign for Anthony Kim, who will take a four-shot lead entering Friday's second round.

NO EASY FEAT (6:22 p.m.): At the end of the first round, just five of 30 players sit under par. Anthony Kim leads at 6 under, Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman and Phil Mickelson are at 2 under and K.J. Choi is 1 under.

Mike Weir and Sergio Garcia are at even par.

EIGHT ENOUGH FOR KIM: (6:05 p.m.): Anthony Kim added an eighth birdie to his round on the par-4 17th and finished the opening stanza with a stellar 64, good enough for a four-shot advantage after 18 holes. If the tournament were to end right now, Kim would finish second in the FedExCup standings, a little more than 4,000 points behind Vijay Singh.

Here's a look at his round:

MICKELSON DONE (5:36 p.m. ET): Phil Mickelson just finished his round with a bogey at the par-3 18th that drops him into a tie for second at 2 under.

The bogey all but rules out a Mickelson-Anthony Kim pairing in Friday's second round that would've been a reunion of the Ryder Cup partners. As it stands now, Kim would play with Ernie Els.

FURYK UPDATE (5:24 p.m. ET): Jim Furyk started his day eagle-birdie and was 3 under through two holes. Since then? Well, let's just say it hasn't been as productive.

Furyk has three bogeys, along with a double bogey at the par-4 10th when his tee shot found the rough, his approach shot found the bunker, then his bunker shot found the rough.

Furyk is now at 2 over as he plays the closing holes.

BIRDIE MACHINE (5:16 p.m. ET): With three holes still to play, Anthony Kim has seven birdies in his round and now leads at 5 under, two shots ahead of his Ryder Cup partner Phil Mickelson, who has six birdies as he nears the end of his round.

On the flip side, just three players have failed to record a birdie in the first round-- Kenny Perry (who finished at 6-over 76), Ken Duke (77) and Camilo Villegas, who is 4 over through 14 holes.

MORE KIM-WOODS TALK (5:11 p.m. ET): Ernie Els told Rich Lerner of GOLF CHANNEL that Anthony Kim, the 23-year-old who is leading THE TOUR Championship, "looks Tigerish." His Ryder Cup teammates are similarly impressed.

Hunter Mahan, who is three years older than Kim, calls Kim "crazy talented." Kim has already won two PGA TOUR events this year on two of the toughest courses in Quail Hollow and Congressional. He dispatched Europe's Mr. Ryder Cup, Sergio Garcia, 5 & 4 in the leadoff Singles on Sunday, too.

Kim has kept the momentum going Thursday, as he's currently atop the leaderboard at 4 under through 14 holes.

"The thing I take from him is just his confidence in himself," Mahan said. "I don't think it's arrogance, I think it's just he believes that he is the best player when he steps on there.

"For anybody who knows anything about psychology, he talks his mind into playing great. He may not hit it great, but he'll talk his mind into playing good. That's hard to do. That's not easy. Not many people can do that.

"He showed it on Sunday. When we saw our pairing our side was definitely excited to see him against Sergio, because that's kind of putting the same player against one another. But Anthony, with the crowd and everything, he was definitely going to get them revved up. We knew if he got off to a good start, good lead, I thought it was going to be over, because he wanted to pound on him and kill him.

"I heard him say he went 5 & 4, but he was going to the next tee to try to win 6 & 3. That's a perfect example of Anthony Kim right now. His attitude about everything is just funny. It's refreshing. It's so not kind of like TOUR life, which is interesting. But in a good way, because he just brings energy and he brings fun.

"But when it comes down to playing good, man, he knows how to play. He's really talented." -- Helen Ross

TOUGH ROUGH (4:45 p.m. ET): Just four players are in red numbers late in the first round, including Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman, who have already finished their rounds with 2-under 68s.

One of the reasons for the lack of low scores may be the firm greens. Another reason, though, is the rough that doesn't offer much opportunity to do anything fancy..

"If you miss a fairway, you've really got some issues out of the Bermuda rough," Els said. "The ball comes out with no spin, so you can't really control the ball.

"You've really got to hit the fairways, but the surfaces are great. If you get it on the greens, you can make some putts."

BIG EASY RALLY (4:31 p.m. ET): Ernie Els got behind the eight ball early in the Playoffs when he missed the cut at the opening event of the postseason, The Barclays.

Els

Since then, however, he's been solid, tying for 17th at the Deutsche Bank Championship and tying for third at the BMW Championship. His effective play continued Thursday at East Lake as Els fired a 2-under 68 despite a bogey on the par-3 18th.

Els has struggled with the alignment in his putting stance, but he needed just 26 putts in Thursday's round, at one point one-putting six of seven greens on the back nine.

"I really putted the ball nicely for a change," Els told XM radio after his round. "I haven't done that all year."

The sub-70 round is Els' seventh out of his nine rounds in the Playoffs since The Barclays.

Els is searching for his second victory of the season. He won The Honda Classic in early March. -- Mark Spoor

NICE FINISH (4:24 p.m. ET): A birdie-birdie finish moved Bubba Watson well up the leaderboard. He finished 1 over for his round after rolling in a 3-footer at No. 17 and holing a bunker shot at the par-3 18th.

Watson

"Birdie, birdie is always good," Watson said. "Last hole with the pin up front with the way the greens are, downwind, it's hard to get it close. So just hole a bunker shot, why not?"

Watson got off to a shaky start with three straight bogeys starting on the fourth hole. But his solid finish managed to right the ship and when Watson was done, he was tied for 10th. Just seven players were under par for the tournament -- led by Anthony Kim at 4 under -- and two were even.

"If you can keep it in the fairway you can play the course, because the greens are receptive from the fairway," Watson said. "But from the rough you have no clue what it's going to do, and they're fast. They're lightning quick right now." -- Helen Ross

FRONT 9 (4:18 p.m. ET): All the players have now made the turn. The 520-yard par-4 fifth was the hardest hole on the front nine, while the only par-5 on the front side, the 600-yard ninth, was the easiest.

Just one eagle (by Jim Furyk) and 39 birdies were recorded on the front side, against 58 bogeys and seven double bogeys.

Here's how the front nine played:

VIJAY UPDATE (4:11 p.m. ET): Vijay Singh isn't having the start he had hoped for as he marches toward the FedExCup.

The big Fijian has made four bogeys in his first eight holes. He could be on the way to his worst round ever at East Lake -- where he has won once and never finished lower than ninth.

SIngh's highest score is a 73, which he has shot twice -- once in the final round of the 2000 event, where he tied for third, and again in the second round of 2004, which he finished solo ninth. -- Helen Ross

SERGIO UPDATE (4 p.m. ET): It's been a rollercoaster ride on the front nine for Sergio Garcia.

He opened with a bogey on the first hole when he three-putted from 55 feet. At the par-4 fifth, he took double bogey after a wayward tee shot landed far right, forcing him to take a penalty stroke. After finding the rough with his tee shot on the par-3 sixth, he couldn't get up-and-down, resulting in another bogey.

But then he birdied the seventh after a nice approach shot left him with a seven-foot putt. Then he birdied the par-5 ninth with another seven-foot putt.

To follow the rest of Garcia's round on PGA TOUR Shot Tracker, click here.

HOT PHIL (3:42 p.m. ET): Phil Mickelson rolled in a 7-footer for birdie on the ninth hole to move to 4 under and into a two-stroke lead.

After that hot start, Lefty could be on the way to his best round ever at East Lake. That came when he shot a 65 in the third round of the 2000 TOUR Championship -- a tournament that he eventually won.

Mickelson shot all four rounds in the 60s that year, which is the only time he's ever done that at East Lake.

To follow the rest of Mickelson's round on PGA TOUR Shot Tracker, click here.

17TH HOLE (3:30 p.m. ET): The first groups of the day have now reached the 455-yard par-4 17th.

A year ago, the hole played to a stroke average of 0.067 above par, making it the fourth hardest hole on the course. But it might be even tougher this week, since the fairway has been moved to the left and now bumps up next to the East Lake.

And if you tee ball drifts too far right to make sure you stay away from the water, then you could find yourself in one of the three new bunkers that line the fairway.

Meanwhile, approach shots may also be more difficult since the new green now sits on the edge of East Lake.

"I think it's great," Camilo Villegas said about the changes at 17. "Having all that water there, why not use it? It definitely makes it a tougher hole.

"The green is going to be very firm. It's going to be very tough to stop shots there, especially to that left side, because it runs a little bit away and toward the water.

"I'm sure once the greens mature a bit, they might get a little bit softer. It's a great hole."

THE KIM-WOODS COMPARISON (3:03 p.m. ET): He won his first two TOUR events this season, and then made a huge splash at the Ryder Cup, so it's no surprise that 23-year-old Anthony Kim has made quite an impression on his fellow TOUR competitors.

Kim

In fact, the thought that he's the "next" Tiger Woods (if there is a next one, that is) certainly was enhanced by his performance at Valhalla, especially in the final day when he led off for the U.S. team and thumped Sergio Garcia in Singles. That dagger-in-the-heart attitude was very Tigeresque.

Yet ...

"It's kind of a little bit of an unfair comparison, to be honest with you," Jim Furyk said. "But both have a lot of talent, a lot of tools, a lot of confidence in themselves, and they're different people the way they go about things.

"Tiger... gives the appearance of more driven, and Anthony gives the appearance of more of a little bit of a happy-go-lucky floating around. ... Tiger always has that nasty scowl and driven look on his face.

"Both of them definitely want to tear your heart out, there's no doubt. But Anthony is very polished for his age. ... He's very impressive."

To follow Kim's round on PGA TOUR Shot Tracker, click here.

SO MUCH FOR THAT (2:40 p.m. ET): It appears as though the Ryder Cup hangovers have ended. Five of the first 10 players on the leaderboard at the moment played on the victorious U.S. team last weekend at Valhalla.

In addition to the quick starts by Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker has two birdies in his first six and both Justin Leonard and Anthony Kim had back-to-back birdies on No. 3 and 4. -- Mark Spoor

GREAT START FOR FURYK (2:23 p.m. ET): As noted below, Jim Furyk is one of 15 players in the 30-man field this week who have yet to win a TOUR event in 2008.

But he's off to a great start Thursday. Furyk holed out from 120 yards on the par-4 first for eagle. Then on the par-3 second, his tee shot landed within four feet of the pin for an easy birdie to put him 3 under through the first two holes.

Phil Mickelson is off to a solid start, too, with birdies at the second and fourth holes.

VIJAY'S LAST TOUR EVENT OF '08 (2 p.m. ET): Vijay Singh, who leads the FedExCup standings, will hit the last drive at East Lake's first tee today. He and Camilo Villegas tee off in the final twosome at 2:10 p.m.

Singh

Singh, who has won three of his last five starts, said Wednesday that THE TOUR Championship "will be probably my last event for this season over here."

Considering he'll win the FedExCup and its $10 million bonus when he completes 72 holes, it seems a fitting conclusion. But expect to see Singh, who is from Fiji, playing in a few overseas events the rest of the year.

Singh is already working on his game plan for next year, too. The three-time major champion has targeted golf's crown jewels as events he needs to play better in. This year, he missed the cut in the Open Championship and the PGA Championship, tied for 14th at the Masters and 65th at U.S. Open.

"I'm going to finish this week, and there's a handful of tournaments that I'm going to play until the end of the year," Singh said. "But I'm going to start figuring out how I'm going to come out next year and play even better golf.

Singh also wants to perform better at THE PLAYERS Championship, the PGA TOUR's signature event that is played at his home course, TPC Sawgrass. He missed the cut in 2008 and only has three top-10s in 16 PLAYERS starts.

"Obviously the TPC, where I live, I play, and I probably spend more time there than I do at home," Singh said. " And missing the cut there was probably one of the biggest failures of the year for me, so I'll see if I can fix that up." -- Helen Ross

RYDER CUP HANGOVERS? (1:45 p.m. ET): Nearly everyone on both Ryder Cup teams said last week was an intense and exhausting experience. It appears as though Chad Campbell is still feeling the effects. After starting with a birdie, Campbell made bogey on four of his next five holes.

Will the rest of the Ryder Cuppers (there are 10 from the U.S. and one -- Sergio Garcia -- from Europe) suffer through similar starts this afternoon? -- Mark Spoor

CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES (1:35 p.m. ET): One reason why East Lake is playing so tough early on is that the course has gone through may significant changes since the PGA TOUR was last here a year ago. In fact, the changes were so vast that the course has been closed until the practice rounds began here on Tuesday.

Here's a look at everything new:

GENERAL CHANGES: The greens were re-grassed wuth Mini-Verde ultra dwarf bermudagrass. All greenside bunkers were rebuilt. Approximate 30-foot areas around each green were re-grassed with 419 bermudagrass. Practice tees were leveled and re-grassed.

HOLE SPECIFIC CHANGES:
No. 3: A new fairway bunker was installed on the left side at 300 yards.
No. 7: A new fairway bunker was installed on the left side at 300 yards. A new green was installed 40 yards back and to the left of the current green.
No. 12: The green bunker was extended about 12 feet to the left.
No. 13: The championship tee was moved back about 20 yards, making it a 459-yard par-4.
No. 14: Greenside bunker extended more in front of green.
No. 15: Championship tee moved about 35 yards behind and to the left, making it a 530-yard par-5. The greenside bunker was also made bigger.
No. 16: Fairway bunker complex moved 30 yards closer to the green. Two bunkers were built on the right side of the green to replace one and it was moved more in front of the green.
No. 17: The fairway was moved to edge of East Lake and a new bunker complex was built on the right side of the fairway. A new green was also built closer to East Lake's edge.

EARLY INDICATIONS (1:13 p.m. ET): Nearly half the field has teed off at East Lake, and it looks like the course is getting the better of the players.

Thus far no player is under par on the leaderboard. Through the first 50 holes played, just four birdies have been recorded, with 28 pars and 18 bogeys.

UPDATE: Trevor Immelman just birdied the third hole to go to 1 under, the only player in red figures.

ROOKIES AT EAST LAKE (1:10 p.m. ET): Andres Romero is the 16th rookie to play in THE TOUR Championship since its inception. In fact, there has been one rookie per year for each event since 2004. Here's the list:

NEED A WIN (12:40 p.m. ET): Of the 30 players in the field at East Lake, exactly half have won at least one tournament on the PGA TOUR this year. That leaves 15 players who are running out of time to claim a victory in 2008 -- and for some, the limited field of THE TOUR Championship may be their last good chance.

Here's the list of 15 players who have yet to win in 2008:

AND THEY'RE OFF (11:55 a.m. ET): The first twosome has just teed off. Chad Campbell drilled his drive 308 yards on the par-4 first hole down the middle of the fairway. Bubba Watson, of course, boomed his drive 334 yards, leaving him just 77 yards from the pin.

FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT EAST LAKE (11:45 a.m. ET): East Lake Golf Club, the permanent home of THE TOUR Championship, has an unique history. Consider these five facts:

1) Bobby Jones not only grew up in house near the 10th fairway and once served as a past president, but he played his first and last rounds of golf at East Lake.

2) Before it was a golf course, the East Lake property served as a privately owned amusement part in the 1890s, with a beach, picnic tables, and hot dog, popcorn and peanut stands.

3) It's the only American course in history to have produced two British Amateur champions (Jones in 1930 and Charlie Yates in 1938).

4) A skirmish during Gen. Sherman's maneuvers around Atlanta in 1864 during the Civil War took place where the golf course now stands. The faint outlines of a trench dug by Confederate troops still crease the eighth fairway.

5) Speaking of skirmishes, East Lake hosted the 1963 Ryder Cup. But it wasn't much of a battle. Led by playing captain Arnold Palmer, the U.S. routed Great Britain and Ireland 23-9.

OPENING CEREMONIES (11:30 a.m. ET): Players representing the past and future of East Lake Golf Club kicked off THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola on Thursday morning.

Eric Ball, a 97-year-old who played in the first Augusta National Invitation Tournament (which became the Masters Tournament), hit the first tee shot -- striping it down the middle of the fairway. Ball was an assistant pro at East Lake in 1930.

The future of East Lake was represented by Martavious Adams, a 14-year-old participant in The First Tee program. A ninth-grader, he's played golf for just three years but already owns a 4 handicap. His booming drive drew plenty of oohs and aahs from the several hundred fans gathered for the festivities.

Martavious hit the ball a long way, but he'll have to go some to catch Bubba Watson, who leads the PGA TOUR in driving distance at 315 yards. Watson and Chad Campbell tee off in the day's first group at 11:50 a.m. ET. -- Helen Ross

WHAT IT TOOK TO GET HERE (11:05 a.m. ET): So what exactly did it take to make it to THE TOUR Championship? Well, Chad Campbell is the 30th and final man in the field. Here's a look at his season and his run in the Playoffs:

WEATHER REPORT (11 a.m. ET): In a word, perfect. Sunny, breezy and 70 degrees as of this writing. More of the same is expected all weekend, with temperatures reaching into the low 80s on Sunday.