Kim leads as Garcia grabs second place at US golf Tour Championship

Anthony Kim, still feeding off his Ryder Cup success, retained the lead in the US PGA Tour Championship on Friday with Spain's Sergio Garcia in hot pursuit.

Garcia, seeking to put his own disappointing Ryder Cup showing behind him, posted the best round of the day with a five-under 65 for five-under 135.

That left him two shots behind Kim, who posted 69 for 133 in the second round of the seven million-dollar tournament.

Garcia nabbed five birdies on the front nine, and will play with Kim in the final group on Saturday.

Kim, 23, thrashed Garcia 5 and 4 in the opening singles match of the Ryder Cup last Sunday as the United States regained the coveted trophy from Europe for the first time since 1999.

Garcia, however, downplayed any suggestion he was out for revenge.

"It's a totally different event," Garcia said. "You're not going to win the tournament tomorrow unless you shoot 52."

While Kim showed no letdown after his heroics at Valhalla, Garcia had appeared to have a Ryder Cup hangover on Thursday, when he was four over after just six holes.

Since then, however, he has been near perfect.

"Slower than slow," he said of the start to his first round. "I didn't hit a good drive on five, caught a bad break with the trees and went into the bushes and lost the ball.

"After that, I managed to get it back, and it got me going in the right direction. I made a couple of putts here and there. I played solid today, hit some good shots, some good putts and got it going on the front nine with four birdies in five holes."

Kim teed off Friday with a four-shot lead over his nearest rivals after a spectacular first-round 64.

He couldn't quite match that in a second round that included five birdies and four bogeys.

He dropped a shot at the difficult par-three 18th, as did Garcia.

"Finishing with a bogey isn't the best feeling in the world, but I'm proud of the way I hung in there," Kim said.

"I didn't make as many putts as I would have liked. There were a couple of opportunities to hang my head, and I just kept plodding along and fortunately got out of there under par."

Phil Mickelson remained in contention with a 68 that left him three off the pace on 136.

Mickelson rallied after three bogeys in 10 holes, notching five birdies in the final seven holes.

"The putter has been very helpful," Mickelson said. "I've made a lot of putts. I need to drive it a little better. I drove it well the last eight holes and was able to play them under par, but starting out, I didn't drive it as accurately as I would have liked, and it cost me.

"I know some guys have felt an emotional letdown this week and it has been difficult getting the energy to come and play, but yet when a couple of putts go in and you make a few birdies, that energy level comes up quick."

Colombian Camilo Villegas carded a 66 to move into fourth place, five shots off the pace, with Canadian Mike Weir and South Korean KJ Choi another shot back.

Meanwhile, Vijay Singh again struggled, shooting 74 for a seven-over 147 total.

It was a disappointment for the Fijian, who only has to complete 72 holes to claim the 10 million-dollar FedEx Cup playoff series bonus.

Singh won the first two series events in New Jersey and Massachusetts to virtually assure himself of the title, but he had been hoping to cap that success with another victory.

"When I started off (on Thursday) I was a bit too overwhelmed with the situation I was in," Singh said. "Whatever I did yesterday, people were congratulating me before the tournament even started.

"I want to get congratulated after the tournament, so that kind of plays a weird thing in your mind. I tried to stay focused."

With only six players in the 30-man field under par, the course's new greens have proved daunting.

"We've played here so many times, and you know which way it's going to break but it doesn't go that way," Singh said.