Kim misses Deutsche Bank cut in his last chance to impress Captain Pavin

Anthony Kim's only hope now is to persuade Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin with words, not scores. In his final chance to make an impression before Pavin announces his four picks Tuesday, Kim opened with a 68 and then crashed out Saturday with a 76 to miss the cut in the Deutsche Bank Championship. Does he have a chance? "If he believes my game will come around in a month," Kim said in the locker room as he finishing writing notes to his pro-am partners. "If he judges me on my last two weeks, I probably won't be a pick." The 25-year-old Kim, fresh off a victory in the Shell Houston Open and a third-place finish at the Masters, was No. 2 in the Ryder Cup standings when he decided to have surgery on his thumb that kept him out for three months. Since his return, Kim was 76th out of 79 players at Firestone (where there is no cut), then missed the cut in his next four events. He fell out of the automatic eight qualifiers at the PGA Championship. Kim has regained his length off the tee and said he spent seven hours practicing on Tuesday, which he could have never done before surgery. He just can't seem to post a score. "I told Corey if I'm not playing good, I would swear on everything and tell him," Kim said. "It's close. I've been playing every day." Kim doesn't regret having the surgery. If he could have played through the pain, he easily would have qualified. His only regret is returning when he did. Kim said he was healthy enough to return, but rusty from not being able to practice enough. Instead, he showed up at Firestone trying to pick up points and secure a spot on the team. "At that point, I needed to make points," he said. "Unfortunately, he (Pavin) now has some scores in front of him to look at." He headed to the car with his clubs in a travel bag from the Ryder Cup at Valhalla, where Kim led the Americans to victory. And despite his struggles, he was still smiling. "I just need to have someone tap Corey on the shoulder in the middle of the night and say, 'Pick the kid. He'll be ready.'"