Dressed in yellow T-shirts with hand-printed letters, some highlighted with glitter, Team AK made its presence felt from the very first shot Anthony Kim hit Sunday in the final round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic hosted by George Lopez.

With each birdie Kim made, they cheered, even the ones without T-shirts. With each bogey, they groaned a bit and cheered their support.

"Team AK is a lot of people that just joined the crew this month," Kim said of his private rooting section Sunday. "A lot of them I don't really know that well, but I'm getting to be good friends with them. I appreciate their support."

Team AK, people from La Quinta Country Club and from throughout the desert, may find their ranks swelling each week as Kim continues to impress on the PGA Tour. In his first start of the 2008 season, and just his second start in a tour event since last September, Kim quietly shot a 3-under 69 and climbed into a tie for third.

At 22, Kim now has three top-three finishes in tour events and is showing every bit of the promise he flashed when he won the 2001 CIF-Southern Section individual championship as a sophomore at La Quinta High School.

But the Kim that came to the desert a month ago and worked hard on his game, and the Kim that came oh so close to his first PGA Tour victory just a few miles from his old high school is different than the Kim who dragged himself through the end of the 2007 season.

Physically and mentally drained by September, Kim found little to be excited about in golf despite winning almost $1.9 million in his rookie season.

"Whether I finished second or fifth or 10th, I would have been disappointed with my play," Kim said. "Right now, I'm looking forward to next week and working on a few things, but other than that I'm going to stay positive."

"Positive" is one of the new swing thoughts for Kim and his rebuilt support system. And while it might only be people who have been around Kim for years who see some of the off-course work he's done, everyone around the Hope and the PGA Tour is noticing Kim's talent. Kim may be downplaying his potential and the chances for him to play in events like the Masters or the Ryder Cup, but everyone else is wondering how quickly Kim will be holding up a trophy.

"He's a big, powerful high-ball (hitter)," said Kenny Perry, who played with Kim on Sunday and tied him for third. "He launches. It's beautiful to watch him play."

Kim insisted Sunday's round, where he never truly threatened the lead but did manage to complete a week of five rounds in the 60s, wasn't as upsetting as it would have been last year.

"At the end of the day, saying I tied for third isn't disappointing, because you have to have a lot of things go your way to win," Kim said. "I realized that last year. I'm looking forward to next week and playing the rest of the year out."

Who knows, if a few more putts dropped for Kim during the week, he might be celebrating his first win today. The old Kim, the 21-year-old who was tired of golf last fall, might have grumbled about his Hope performance this week. The new Kim was a happy man Sunday.

"Obviously you come here to win. Like I said, things have to go your way," he said. "The putts just didn't fall for me this week. But I'm not complaining."