Anthony Kim is continuing his good form of recent weeks [GALLO/GETTY]

Four days after Anthony Kim humbled Sergio Garcia in the Ryder Cup, he beat 29 players just as efficiently at the US Tour Championship.

Showing no effects of a Ryder Cup hangover, Kim fired off eight birdies on his way to a 6-under 64 in his Tour Championship debut to build a four-shot lead over Masters champion Trevor Immelman, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.

Kim and the other nine Americans from the winning team rarely got through a hole without hearing someone in the gallery congratulate them on their 16½-11½ victory over Europe on Sunday.

Feeling good

"I feel like when I'm happy, having a good time, I'm going to make some birdies,'' Kim said.

"So it was a good vibe out there.''

Vijay Singh was not feeling so positive.

He only has to complete all four rounds at East Lake Golf Club to capture the FedEx Cup.

But he started poorly, 5 over through 11 holes, before settling for a 73.

Poor start

Kenny Perry, the Kentucky hero from the Ryder Cup, also found little reason to smile.

He opened with a 76, and while that won't take away from his Ryder Cup memories, what irritated him was a summons for drug testing, the second of the year for the 48-year-old.

Good thing the 23-year-old Kim had four days to try to get the Ryder Cup out of his system.

He was the life of the party late Sunday, especially after his 5-and-4 victory over Garcia in which Kim made birdie or better on six of his 14 holes.

On form

"Just trying to enjoy the moment,'' he said.

"This Ryder Cup hangover doesn't feel as bad as a college hangover.''

As well as he played at the Ryder Cup on a Valhalla course with soft greens and minimal rough, Kim was equally spectacular on an East Lake course that was as tough as ever.

Golf balls disappeared in Bermuda rough that was only 2 inches (5 centimeters) deep.

New greens

The real challenge was getting the ball close to the cup on greens that were rebuilt in the spring.

It usually takes a few years for new greens to settle, making them particularly firm.

Add to that gusts of up to 15 mph (25 kph) on a warm, dry afternoon and it's no wonder only five players broke par.

K.J. Choi was the other with a 1-under 69.

The real marvel was Kim posting eight birdies in his round of 64 in his event debut.

Simple fix

He attributes most of that to a simple fix in his putting before he teed off.

The longest putt he made came from just behind the 11th green when he knocked in a 25-footer to start building a gap between him and the rest of the field that made it to the final event in the US PGA Tour playoffs.

"I didn't really know what score was out there,'' Kim said.

"I had heard the greens were really receptive last year, so I didn't know what to expect.

"And obviously, it took me a couple of days to get over that celebration that we had on Sunday night, so I wasn't expecting too much.

"Just taking what the course gave me.''

Phil Mickelson aiming for the Vardon Cup [GALLO/GETTY]

The drama is gone from the FedEx Cup, Singh made sure of that with two victories, but perhaps there is one race that could go all the way.

Mickelson has a chance to win the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average, and at 69.52 he leads Garcia (69.53) by one-hundredth of a point.

Mickelson at least needs to finish ahead of the Spaniard to capture his first major award on the tour.

Kim, however, is one-tenth of a point behind at 69.62.

Scoring averages

Scoring averages cannot be computed until the end of the week, because scores are adjusted based on the average field score for the tournament.

"It would be cool,'' Mickelson said when asked about the Vardon Trophy.

"I don't really understand the mathematics of the scoring average, because it's not really your score.''

But he understood a 68 and was pleased with it.

Mickelson made the turn at 4 under thanks to some putting that has been missing most of the year.

However, one errant shot struck a small girl in the knee.