Island Packet Verizon Heritage 2008 Coverage | Harbour Town, Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island, SC

On the eve of the biggest day of his life as a professional golfer, Anthony Kim wasn't sure he was ready for the occasion.

The pressure, the crowds, the nerves. He wasn't positive, at 22 years old, that he was ready to track down Boo Weekley from three shots back and win the Verizon Heritage.

And maybe he wasn't.

Instead of winning for the first time Sunday at Harbour Town Golf Links, Kim settled for his second runner-up finish, tying for second with Aaron Baddeley after an even-par 71 left him three shots behind Weekley.

Kim hadn't played in the final group at a tournament since the 2003 Northeast Amateur, which he won in a five-hole playoff, and he didn't look comfortable in that position until it was too late Sunday.

Even after knocking his first tee shot down the middle, he backed off the ball before hitting his approach shot, then missed the green to the left and had to pull off a nifty up-and-down to save par.

It was a harbinger of things to come. Kim fought his driver and couldn't get dialed in with his irons on the front nine, allowing Weekley to build a comfortable lead that was never in danger.

"The first couple of holes I was a little bit uncomfortable out there," said Kim, who also placed second in his PGA Tour debut at the 2006 Valero Texas Open. "I hadn't been in this position as a professional, but it's been awhile even in amateur golf."

Kim never narrowed the gap closer than three shots, and when he did pull within three after Weekley's bogey at the par-4 eighth, he promptly gave back not one, but two shots at the ninth. He yanked a 5-iron down the left side, leaving a tough angle to a left pin, and plugged his second shot in the front bunker.

A sand wedge and three putts later, Kim's hopes of his first PGA Tour victory were on life support.

He did a decent job of reviving them with a string of three consecutive birdies on Nos. 13-15, but a bogey at No. 16 effectively killed them.

"We were right in it," Kim said. "When I made those three birdies, I had a chance. If that putt on 16 goes in, maybe things will go a little bit different and I put a little more pressure on Boo.

"But I'm sure he would have handled it great."

Weekley was impressed with his adversary's poise in an unfamiliar position. Heck, when the now two-time Heritage champion was 22, he wasn't anywhere near the PGA Tour.

"I think he handled himself pretty well," Weekley said. "I love his attitude. He's got a lot of spunk in him."

Kim showed a bit of that spunk in his resiliency Sunday. After playing Harbour Town's front nine -- ostensibly the easier side -- in 2-over 38, he rebounded to shoot 2-under 33 on the back and climb back up the leaderboard.

"I feel like I could have let it get away from me today if I didn't have a good attitude," Kim said. "I learned a lot today. Boo pretty much taught me face to face what I've got to do to win a golf tournament."

And nobody around the PGA Tour seems to have any doubt he'll do it soon enough.