AUGUSTA, Ga. — Anthony Kim was one of the popular choices among the pundits to win the Masters this week.
He came to Augusta National with momentum, having won in Houston last week, and he is one of the most talented young guns in the game.
Yet Kim lurked somewhat quietly in the background this week — until yesterday, when he mounted a final-round charge that nearly got him his first major championship.
Kim, playing several holes in front of eventual winner Phil Mickelson, shot a 7-under-par 65, including an eagle on the 15th hole and birdie on No. 16 that sent roars around the course.
“After 15 I felt like I had some momentum,” Kim said. “I felt like I had a little energy from the crowd.”
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As if he did not have enough stress in his life, Mickelson spent much of Saturday night tending to his oldest daughter, Amanda, who needed an X-ray on her wrist after she suffered a hairline fracture roller-skating earlier in the day.
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Mickelson had a bizarre bad-luck moment on the second green when a small piece of a pine cone fell directly into his putting line after he rolled his birdie putt. The ball was pushed off line when it collided with the debris.
“I look down my line and it’s not there, and as I stroke it, the thing fell and you had to wonder, is somebody out to get you?” Mickelson joked.
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K.J. Choi, who was in contention all day and was paired with Tiger Woods, said he lost his concentration when he and Woods were put on the clock for slow play at the 12th hole. He went on to bogey the 13th and 14th to fall out of the running.
“It kind of got me mentally,” he said.
Nathan Green and Ryan Moore each fired a hole-in-one on No. 16.