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  By Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY
CHARLOTTE — After watching playing partner Anthony Kim fire a sizzling third-round 6-under 66 on Quail Hollow's taxing golf course to grab a four-shot, 54-hole lead, Jason Bohn called the performance almost Tiger-esque.
Kim looked every bit like Tiger Woods in the final round of the Wachovia Championship — except for the gray shirt. Wearing his signature belt buckle with the initials "A.K." and carrying the calm demeanor of a veteran and the explosive exuberance of a youngster, Kim rolled to a five-shot win Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour title. Kim polished off his tournament with a 3-under 69 to finish at 16-under 272, establishing a tournament record by three shots and becoming the first to win the event by more than two shots.
RESULTS: Wachovia Championship
"I'm a little bit numb right now, but that walk up 18 was the best feeling in my entire life," Kim said after winning $1.152 million, donning the blue blazer given to the champion and becoming the fifth first-time winner on Tour in 2008. "I had chills going up and down my spine. I want to re-create that as many times as possible now, so I'm going to really work hard." FIND MORE STORIES IN: Dallas | PGA Tour | Tiger Woods | Phil Mickelson | Sergio Garcia | Wachovia Championship | Ben Crenshaw | Seve Ballesteros | Heath Slocum | Verizon Heritage | Quail Hollow | Anthony Kim | Lanny Wadkins | Jason Bohn | Mercedes Championship | Hooters Tour
Kim made it look easy as he tamed the 7,442-yard, old-style, tree-lined course with power, precision and putting. Jump-starting his round with a birdie, he stretched his overnight lead to seven shots on the front nine. Rather than coasting to the scorer's tent, Kim tacked on two more birdies on the back nine and finished with 22 birdies and an eagle for the week. "He's young, very talented and fearless," said Heath Slocum, who tied for fifth. "He put his foot on the gas on the first hole and never let up." Beating a talent-laden group despite the world No. 1's absence because of knee surgery, Kim, 22, became the 13th player since 1970 to win a Tour event before turning 23, joining luminaries such as Lanny Wadkins, Ben Crenshaw, Seve Ballesteros, Woods and Phil Mickelson in accomplishing the feat. At 22 years, 10 months and 15 days, Kim also is the youngest winner on Tour since Sergio Garcia won the 2002 Mercedes Championship at 21 years, 11 months and 28 days old. "It looks like it's going to be the first of many wins" for Kim, Mickelson said after finishing in a tie for 12th. Kim showed maturity beyond his years in changing his ways after a rough rookie season in 2007. Admitting he was a hothead who was lazy and took every bad shot too seriously, Kim knew he had to put more effort into his work on the driving range. Another life-altering moment came this year when girlfriend Lisa Pruett stepped on a beer mug, the force shattering the glass into her foot, breaking it and slicing a muscle. She lost a lot of blood and needed attention in the emergency room. She's still recovering, which meant Kim was alone this week while she stayed in Dallas, but she is not far from his thoughts. "That was probably the scariest thing I've ever gone through," Kim said. "Bogeys didn't mean that much after that happened." His renewed focus blossomed two weeks ago when he tied for second at the Verizon Heritage. "If I didn't hit a good shot, I felt my life was over. It's hard to play golf that way," Kim said. "If I had won last year, my practicing would have gone down to even less, and there wasn't much to go down. I might have been playing on the Hooters Tour. It might have been the best thing for me, just to get slapped in the face and to realize that I can't win out here without practicing and giving it my all and focusing on every golf shot and on every practice round." | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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