Kim Gets Off to Fast Start at Tour Championship

Four days after Anthony Kim humbled Sergio García in the Ryder Cup, he beat 29 players just as badly yesterday at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Kim turned eight birdies into a 6-under-par 64 in his Tour Championship debut to build a four-shot lead over 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 victory over Europe.

"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 only has to complete all four rounds at East Lake to capture the FedEx Cup, and that might have been the best part of his opening round -- he finished. He started slowly before settling for a 73. . . .

In Prattville, Ala., Jill McGill, Jane Park and Jeong Jang shot 7-under 65s for a share of the lead at the LPGA Navistar Classic, while Lorena Ochoa was two strokes back in her first event in a month. . . .

In Sutton Coldfield, England, Marcus Fraser and Mikael Lundberg both shot 5-under 67s to share the first-round lead at the European PGA's British Masters.

· SWIMMING: Michael Phelps's long-awaited return home from the Olympics was little more than a stopover in a whirlwind journey.

Returning to the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center where he honed his skills, Phelps accepted a $250,000 donation from Kellogg's for his charitable foundation.

"I wanted to come back to Baltimore. I missed it," Phelps said. "This is the place where I grew up and I started everything. I wanted to be back here, close to my family and close to my friends."

Since his trip to Beijing, where he won a record eight gold medals, Phelps has been to London, been honored with a parade at Disney World in Florida, hosted "Saturday Night Live" and been a guest at the MTV Video Music Awards. He's met politicians, movie stars and athletes in other sports.

· COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The NCAA Clearinghouse approved Maryland freshman Steve Goins on Tuesday, making the 6-foot-10 forward eligible to participate in all men's basketball team activities. Goins, who averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks per game as a senior at Curie High School in Chicago, committed to Maryland in June.

· PRO BASKETBALL: In Los Angeles, Lisa Leslie had 22 points and Candace Parker added 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Sparks to an 85-70 win over the San Antonio Silver Stars in the opener of the WNBA Western Conference finals. Los Angeles outscored San Antonio 31-13 in the second quarter to take a 48-39 halftime lead.

· SOCCER: In Chicago, Chris Rolfe scored in each half to lead the Fire (11-9-5) to a 3-1 Major League Soccer victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy (7-10-8). . . .

UEFA is expected to announce today that it will expand the European Championship from 16 to 24 teams starting in 2016.

· HIGH SCHOOLS: Pope John Paul the Great, a new Catholic high school in Dumfries, hired former West Springfield assistant Angelo Hunt as its first varsity boys' basketball coach.

-- From News Services and Staff Reports