"It worked out great," Kim said. "I feel like I'm on the LPGA Tour, but it doesn't matter. I'm playing good golf and making good swings."
Garcia didn't play all that badly Sunday in his loss to Kim except for a few bad drives on the front nine. He made only bogey at East Lake, chipping to firmly on the 18th hole and missing his par putt from about 10 feet.
The 28-year-old Spaniard fired off three straight birdies starting with a 9-iron into about 10 feet on the fifth, concluding his run with a 25-foot birdie on the seventh with perfect pace that brought a wry smile. Garcia also hit a delicate bunker shot for a short birdie on the par-5 ninth, and hammered a wedge to 2 feet of a tough pin on the 17th.
"If you miss the fairway, you're pretty much done," Garcia said. "Even from the fairway, it's still tough because the greens are so firm and so fast. But if you played well, you had a chance of getting on a roll, like I did."
Lurking was Mickelson, until his string of birdies at the end of the round.
Lefty won at East Lake in 2000, and he is starting to knock in enough putts to gain some confidence going into the weekend. Even so, he was intrigued by the two players ahead of him.
Mickelson and Kim were partners for three matches last week, although they never played against Garcia. Kim did that on his own in the opening match.
"I like the way it worked out last Sunday," Mickelson said. "That was nice. I've got to go out and try to track both of those guys down. That's not going to be easy."
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