Anthony Kim: 'Game is starting to come back'

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Anthony Kim still has weakness in his surgically-repaired left thumb and he fought hard not to give his putter the thumb this week, but otherwise the three-time PGA Tour winner was satisfied that his game is getting back on track after shooting a closing 5-under-par 68 Sunday at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Kim's low round for the week left him at 10-under 282 at Kapalua Resort's Plantation Course. He wasn't thrilled with finishing so far out of contention, but he was encouraged by his ball-striking. "The work is starting to pay off. I just have to stay patient because I really like how my game is starting to come back," he said while signing autographs behind the 18th green.

Kim, 25, who won the Shell Houston Open and tied for third at the Masters, hasn't been the same since he underwent surgery in May. "I still feel like I have a good ways to go to get back where I am," he admitted.

Holding him back at Kapalua was the short stick. He needed 128 putts on the tricky greens of the Plantation Course. Six times he three-putted, twice inside five feet. But he was determined not to dwell on it.

"It wasn't that I hit bad putts, but I had trouble reading the greens all week," he said. "I'm not going to beat myself up too badly even though I left a lot of shots out there and there was a lot of going scoring. It was just good to shoot some rounds under par and get going, and I'm encouraged about what I'm doing."

-- Dave Shedloski