ESPN Golf

ATLANTA -- His ascension has been swift, but not startling, because all along those who follow the game knew Anthony Kim had some talent.

He won two tournaments this year on the PGA Tour, both at well-regarded venues. He showed tremendous moxie at the Ryder Cup, where he was by far the youngest player on either side, yet managed to take down Spain's Sergio Garcia in a stunning singles thrashing.

And there is a humbleness, a sincerity that was lacking his rookie year on the PGA Tour that shows a quick maturation process, something that has drawn praise from his peers.

Nonetheless, Kim is just 23 years old, playing a game that no one ever quite masters, still learning his lessons, some of them subtle.

One of them occurred Saturday at the Tour Championship, where Kim took a 2-shot lead over Garcia into the third round at East Lake Golf Club but found himself three behind after an erratic effort that saw him spray the ball over the Atlanta-area course. One shot was bad enough to send a spectator to the hospital.

And what likely led to his lackluster performance was a bout of carelessness that you have to chalk up to youth.

"I thought my tee time was 11:55 and it was 11:25," Kim said after shooting 2-over-par 72 to fall into a second-place tie with Phil Mickelson, three behind Garcia. "I was hanging out in the locker room, talking to the locker-room guys, and I noticed there was nobody else around. ... I had no idea what time it was. Obviously, I need to be a little bit more focused on the golf course when I get here and start planning my practice routine before I go tee it up."

Kim was kicking himself for the mistake, but not blaming it for his indifferent play.

"My swing was terrible whether I sat out there for an hour or eight hours," he said. "I mean, I don't know anyone that could have fixed that swing. I was just trying to hit it in the right areas of the rough."

And yet, maybe a bit more time on the range to find a swing and work out any issues would have meant a better result.

Kim certainly wasn't aiming for the rough to the left of the ninth fairway, where his tee shot caught an unwitting spectator, David Whitfield, 48, of Atlanta, in the forehead. It was a scary scene as the ball hit Whitfield flush, bounced off of him and into his wife Teri before settling in the rough.

Whitfield was knocked to the ground, not unconscious, but bleeding profusely. Medics rushed to his side, and by the time Kim arrived, he soon was promising golf balls, golf clubs, even his entire bag as Whitfield was loaded onto a stretcher.

Whitfield was later released from DeKalb Medical Center on Saturday afternoon after a CAT scan and 6-8 stitches in his forehead.

"Seeing that guy. ... I thought I killed him," Kim said. "It was an awful feeling to look down and see a golf-ball-sized impression in his forehead and it's cut open. It was probably the nastiest thing I've ever seen.

"It didn't affect my golf game. I still played the same way I would. I was hitting it terrible anyway, so I can't say that threw my game off."

A year ago, Kim might have used it as an excuse. He was cocky and moody and admits now that he didn't do the proper things to prepare as a professional golfer. His nights out were too long, his practice time too short. He earned more than $1.5 million, but it wasn't until an attitude adjustment came that he really began to prosper.

Kim won the Wachovia Championship at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, then won the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club outside of Washington, D.C. Those are two pretty stout golf courses and show just how far Kim has come.

"He's a good kid, a really good kid," said Ernie Els, who played with Kim during the second round at East Lake. "He has a good attitude and he's got a lot of game. We need a good, young player like him."

The third round offered up a juicy pairing just six days after the highly charged match at the Ryder Cup between Kim and Garcia. The Ryder Cup drama started on the first green, with Kim not wanting to concede short birdie putts and ending on the 14th, where Kim closed out a 5 and 4 victory, the most lopsided defeat of Garcia's sterling Ryder Cup career.

Saturday was not nearly as captivating. Garcia was not rewarded early on for his fine play, although eventually he got some putts to drop, birdied two of his last four holes and shot 67, matching the lowest round of the day.

Meanwhile, Kim was struggling. He hit just 4 of 14 fairways and only 10 greens in regulation. Somehow, he hung on through 13 holes, still tied for the lead. But he bogeyed two of his last five holes, made just one birdie all day and will have to play catch-up Sunday if he is to overtake Garcia and win the $1.26 million first-place prize.

"I felt all day he was doing very well to shoot what he was going to shoot," Garcia said. "The way this course was playing and the way he was hitting the ball, he still scrambled nicely. But when you're 7-under with five holes to go and you finish 5-under, it's never great. He got a lot out of his round early on, and then he kind of lost a lot towards the end."

Kim, who led by four shots after an opening-round 64, now trails by three. Perhaps on Thursday he was still feeling the effects of Ryder Cup euphoria and now has settled back down. Maybe it was just one of those bad days that are inevitable in golf.

No matter what, in Kim's case, you figure it to be an aberration, but also a learning experience.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.