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| Anthony Kim © Gallo Images |
Anthony Kim is likely to stand by his decision to skip the European Tour's lucrative season finale in Dubai, even if he wins this week's WGC-HSBC Champions event, the American said on Friday.
"If I have that opportunity, I may reconsider, but most likely I'm not going to play," Kim told reporters after shooting a 69 to stand sixth at the halfway stage at the Sheshan International Golf Club.
The $1.2 million first prize in Shanghai would make Kim almost certain to be one of the 15 players playing for a bonus pot of $7.5 million at the Dubai World Championship later this month, as well as any earnings from the $7.5 million tournament.
"I think it's easy to get lost in it and just chasing money around and that's not really what I want to do. I think I did that a little bit last year and I'm not going to do that anymore.
"It hurt my golf game physically, and my body obviously wasn't rested, and I think that cost me this year. So I'm going to try to learn from my mistakes. But you never know."
ARRIVED LATE
Kim, who played a big role in his country's Ryder Cup victory last year, joined the European Tour when the "Race to Dubai" was announced last season.
After finishing runner up at the World Match Play in Spain last week, he arrived late in China because of visa problems and did not have a practice round.
Patience was the key to his play on Friday, he said, until the par five 18th where he unleashed a "a big, cut five wood" from the fairway to leave himself with a four-foot eagle putt, which he drained.
"I wanted to get a little aggressive because I felt like a birdie or an eagle would really ignite my round tomorrow and I'd have some momentum going in that way," Kim added.
Any finish at all would be an improvement on last year, when Kim was disqualified after damaging his driver on a sprinkler head and falling foul of a rule banning use of a club "damaged other than in the normal course of play".
"I know I don't want to that again," the 24-year-old world number 22 said after his first round 67.
"I want to play to play all four rounds this year. I'm not banging my clubs around as much as I did last year, so I shouldn't have to worry about that."
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