Atlanta, GA (Best E Casino) - Anthony Kim mixed five birdies and four bogeys in a round of one-under 69 Friday to stay atop the leaderboard after two rounds of the Tour Championship.
Kim completed 36 holes at seven-under-par 133.
"I'm playing great right now, I love playing this game out here," Kim said. "It's hard for me not to have fun right now."
Coming off a solid Ryder Cup that included a trouncing of Sergio Garcia in their singles match, Kim and Garcia will again battle on Saturday as they are paired together in the third round.
"It's looking great. He's been playing nicely all year," Garcia said of Kim. "I'm looking forward to it."
Garcia fired a five-under 65 to move into second place at five-under-par 135.
Kim's Ryder Cup teammate Phil Mickelson posted his second straight 68 and is alone in third at minus-four. Camilo Villegas is two shots back at two-under- par 138 after a four-under 66 in round two.
K.J. Choi (70) and Mike Weir (69) are the final players in red figures at minus-one.
This is the final FedEx Cup playoff event and players are battling for second place. Vijay Singh only needs to finish all four rounds to claim the $10 million annuity. Everyone else in the field can finish second to Singh with a win this week.
Singh struggled again as he posted a four-over 74 and is now tied for 23rd at seven-over-par 147 at East Lake Golf Club.
Kim struggled late in the front nine and that gave Garcia a share of the lead. Kim opened with a birdie on the first, but gave that shot right back as he three-putted for bogey on the second.
The 23-year-old rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt on the fourth to push his lead over Garcia to four strokes.
However, Kim could not save par on the seventh after hitting his drive behind a tree and again three-putted for bogey at eight to slide to minus-five. He was briefly joined there by Garcia, who collected five birdies over the first nine holes.
Kim regained the lead with a two-putt birdie on the par-five ninth. He made it two in a row as he sank a seven-foot birdie putt at 10. After a par on the 11th, Kim drained a 19-foot birdie effort at 12 to get back to minus-eight.
Armed with a three-shot lead, Kim parred five holes in a row. At the last, he found a greenside bunker with his tee shot. Kim blasted to eight feet, but two-putted for par to drop his lead to two shots.
"Driving is one of my strengths and I've been struggling with that the last two months," Kim admitted. "I finally figured something out with my golf swing."
Garcia birdied the first to move into red figures. After birdies on five and six, he made it three in a row by sinking a 25-footer for birdie at seven.
The Spaniard moved to five-under with an up-and-down birdie on the ninth. After he parred the 10th, Garcia was tied for the lead as Kim fell back to five-under.
Garcia reeled off seven straight pars from the 10th. He nearly holed his approach at the 17th as his second shot stopped within two feet of the cup. He kicked that in for birdie, but he also missed the green at the last and made bogey to finish at minus-five.
"I played good today. I'm a little disappointed with the chip at the last, but other than that it was a good solid day," Garcia stated. "I would have loved to finish with a par, but I would have taken a 65 at the beginning of the day."
Former British Open champ Ben Curtis carded a one-under 69 and is alone in seventh at even-par 140.
Ernie Els (73), Masters champion Trevor Immelman (73), Robert Allenby (66) and Andres Romero (68) are tied for eighth at plus-one.
