Less than 48 hours after celebrating the best week of his life, Anthony Kim was back to business on Tuesday preparing for the final event of the PGA Tour's regular season.
The 23-year-old was still on a high as he reflected on his significant role in the US Ryder Cup victory over Europe while fervently hoping he had enough energy for this week's Tour Championship.
"There better be (enough energy)," Kim told reporters at East Lake Golf Club. "I mean, I'm playing against 29 other players who deserve to be here who played great golf for a number of tournaments to get here.
"The Ryder Cup did take an emotional toll on me because our team did grind so hard. We put everything we had into it."
"But it's what we do for a living. You've got to get up, be ready to play and go out there and try and make some birdies."
"Coming off an emotional week at the Ryder Cup was an experience I'll never forget and hopefully it's something I can draw back on going into this week."
"I had a couple of adult beverages but it was all in good fun," he added with a smile, referring to the American victory celebrations on Sunday. "It was just a time to blow it all out and have some fun. Now I'm here, here at East Lake."
Kim, who qualified for the elite field of 30 for this week's lucrative FedExCup finale, will never forget his Ryder Cup debut at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
The youngest member of the 12-man American team, he produced exhilarating form to win 2-1/2 points out of a possible four, ending the week with a 5&4 singles victory over Spaniard Sergio Garcia.
"I just had the best week of golf in my entire life, the best experience of my life, something I'll never forget," Kim said. "It's something I'll cherish for a very long time."
Despite being a rookie at Valhalla, he was delighted to be given the honor of playing Garcia in the first singles match on Sunday, setting the tone for the rest of his team.
"It meant a great deal," the world number 10 said. "Everyone that played in the Ryder Cup is a good player and there were no easy matches out there. On any given day, Sergio could beat me and I could beat Sergio.
"I know all about Sergio and we've become good friends. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. So it was a challenge that I really wanted."
Widely regarded as the brightest young talent in the American game, Kim has won two PGA Tour titles this season and has a clear idea of what he wants to achieve in golf.
"I've already figured out a couple of key points in my game and some flaws that I need to get better for next year."
"I'm already planning that out, starting to figure that out."
(Agencies via China Daily September 25, 2008)
