Third round: Garcia surges, Kim struggles with driver
ATLANTA (AP) -- The cheers weren't as loud, but Sergio Garcia had heard them before.
Six days ago at the Ryder Cup, he was helpless as Anthony Kim fired at flags and birdied nearly half his holes in a 5-and-4 romp that revved up the gallery during an American victory.
It looked like more of the same early Saturday at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, especially when Kim made everything in sight to build a three-shot lead on the front nine at East Lake. This time, fortunes turned in the Spaniard's favor.
Garcia kept hitting good putts until enough of them went in that he turned a three-shot deficit into a three-shot lead with a 3-under 67, leaving him poised to become only the third player to capture THE PLAYERS Championship and THE TOUR Championship in the same year.
"We're moving in the right direction," Garcia said, referring as much to his game as a third round that put him at 8-under 202, giving him a three-shot cushion over Phil Mickelson (69) and Kim (72).
Kim couldn't go at too many flags because he was busy escaping from the rough.
The 23-year-old American hit only four fairways, and his wildness caught up with him. One tee shot hit a fan in the forehead, sending him to the hospital with a 2-inch gash that left blood on the grass. Another shot found the water. Yet another bounced off corporate tents lining the 16th fairway.
"I'm speechless how bad I hit the driver," Kim said.
He was at a loss for words when he saw the damage he inflicted on the ninth hole. His wayward shot hit 48-year-old David Whitfield on the fly, splitting open his forehead. Whitfield was taken to a hospital, but he never lost consciousness and tests were negatives.
Kim gave Whitfield's wife a golf ball that he signed with a note: "Sorry."
Garcia got up-and-down from the bunker for a birdie to catch Kim at the turn, then took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-5 15th as Kim continued to sputter.
"Obviously, AK wasn't on his A-game," Garcia said. "I still feel like he scrambled nicely. He got some putts going in the beginning. I managed to make some birdies and played solidly."
Those two young stars in the final group of the third round finally brought some energy to the post-Ryder Cup blues at East Lake, although anyone hopeful of a rematch would have been sorely disappointed.
They were laughing and chatting from the start, especially on the first green when Garcia asked if he should move his ball mark.
"He gave me of those looks like, 'I don't need to hit it that far left.' And he actually hit the left side of the coin," Garcia said. "It was one of those funny things that happen."
There wasn't much humor early on.
Garcia was closer to the cup on the first four holes -- twice for birdie while Kim was trying to save par -- and Kim wound up expanding his lead. Even Kim had to laugh on the fourth, when his approach from the rough came out so hot that it wound up 35 yards over the green, leaving him no shot to a back pin. His chip rolled down the ridge 30 feet away, and he holed it for par.
Garcia offered a wry smile, but he never got down.
"There's no doubt he got off to a good start with his putter, made some good putts early on and kind of went in front of me," Garcia said. "But I was just staying patient. I knew that my game was in good shape."
Kim was errant off the tee no matter what club was in his hand, and he was fortunate to lose only one shot on the par-3 sixth when his fall wound up right of the green, off the slope and into the water. Garcia closed the gap to one shot with a 12-foot birdie on the seventh, then took the momentum on the ninth.
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Trevor Immelman buried his approach deep into the bunker on the par-4 16th, but the 2008 Masters champion used a mass of green to sink the tricky shot. 
Garcia made only one bogey in his round (he missed the green on No. 13 and hit a poor chip). Since opening up four over in his first six holes on Thursday, Garcia is an incredible 12 under. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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WAIT -- WHERE IS EVERYBODY?
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
ATLANTA -- Anthony Kim's first clue came when he realized he was the only player left in the locker room Saturday morning.
He'd been shooting the breeze with the attendants when one of them happened to mention that he only had about 30 minutes before his 11:25 a.m. date with Sergio Garcia. The surprised Kim immediately headed to the range to hit some balls -- and chat some more.
"I was still talking to everybody, which I probably need to shut my mouth and go practice," recalled Kim, who normally allows himself an hour and 15 minutes to prepare. "But I was still having a good time talking to the gallery."
The happy-go-lucky Kim nonetheless managed to make his tee time. And while he refused to blame it on his lack of practice, Kim proceeded to shoot a 2-over 72 that knocked him out of the lead and left him trailing Garcia by three at 5 under.
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GARCIA TAKING THE MATURE APPROACH
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
ATLANTA -- A week ago, Sergio Garcia suffered through the worst performance of his otherwise stellar Ryder Cup career. Now he's 18 holes from wrapping up the best season of his stellar -- and still-evolving -- PGA TOUR career.
Funny how that happens. Funny how our perspective can change so quickly, how a single bad week sets off alarms and a good week sets off a celebration.The good players -- or more to the point, the mature players -- know how to deal with those kinds of fluctuations, how to play with a steady hand, to avoid the highs and lows and maintain the kind of equilibrium needed for optimal results.
Garcia has evolved into that kind of player. At age 28, he seems to have found the kind of consistency (one weird week at Valhalla notwithstanding) needed to cement his spot as one of the game's handful of names who must be feared any time he tees it up.
Certainly, Garcia's 3-under 67 on Saturday at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola sent several messages. Not only did he wrestle the lead away from playing partner Anthony Kim, Garcia avenged (our perspective, not his) that loss to Kim in last Sunday's Ryder Cup match. And with a three-shot lead entering the final round, Garcia is primed to win his eighth TOUR title, especially since East Lake doesn't seem all that willing to yield many low rounds this week. All he needs is one more nice, consistent round.
To read the remainder of this story, click here.
Tale of the Tape: Garcia vs. Kim in the third round
Did you miss Day 3 at East Lake? Click here to read more updates like this from the entire third round brought to you by our staff at the course.
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK XM
Radio announcer Brian Katrek offers these observations from Friday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
The crowd was good on Saturday despite some obstacles. Tickets are always limited at East Lake because of the size of the property. Also, Atlanta is in the middle of a bit of a gas crisis. Having lived here for the last 28 years, I can tell you on good authority that no matter how small a problem can be, the citizens of this town can always be counted on to make it much worse.
Panic, it seems, is the city's most plentiful natural resource. Even with Georgia playing Alabama up the road in Athens in a night game, the crowds were awesome at East Lake in the third round...
There are occasionally some extra spectators on the property at other times of the year. Before the re-working of the course last year, there was a family of coyotes that hung out in a patch of woods between 15 and 16. Though they were never seen, they were occasionally heard. When an emergency vehicle drove by on adjacent Glenwood Avenue with the sirens going, the coyotes would respond with a song of their own...
With the firmness of these new Bermuda greens, superintendent Ralph Kepple has kept the rough low. In years past, the thick Bermuda rough has been much longer, leaving players with few options if they got a bad lie. This week, the rough is a mere two and a half inches. This gives players a chance to hit shots toward the greens. But with less spin, these shots can often get in more trouble than if the player had just punched back to the fairway.
THINGS TO WATCH ON SUNDAY
1. Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard made only one bogey in Round 2 and one in Round 3-- a remarkable achievement on a very tough East Lake layout. He is looking like the favorite in the clubhouse to finish 2008 with wins in THE PLAYERS and THE TOUR Championship.
2. The FedExCup trophy presentation. It is only fitting that the only two names on the trophy -- Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh -- are the only two players in recent memory to achieve No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
3. Phil Mickelson. Phil has been tough in the final round in 2008, shooting 70 or better in half his attempts this year. He is always a threat to go low.
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