Globe-trotting American Anthony Kim has defended his decision to skip the season-ending Dubai World Championship in order to be better prepared for next year's US PGA Tour season.

The 24-year-old Ryder Cup winner lost to Ross Fisher in the final of last week's Volvo World Match Play Championship to move up to 39th in the Race to Dubai.

That result means Kim is now certain of a place in the top 60 which would qualify him for the lucrative event.

But Kim is set to spurn it in his bid to win more PGA tournaments next year.

The world number 22 said: "I wasn't quite ready to play, physically or mentally, at the beginning of the PGA Tour season. I feel like part of the reason was because I did waste a lot of my energy playing in the off-season last year, and I didn't feel like I had time to recover.

"I think that's why I was getting injured a lot more because I wasn't taking care of my body as well because I was obviously playing more internationally."

Despite his disappointing season which began with a season-best second-place finish at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in January, Kim dropped just one shot in the first round of the WGC-HSBC Champions today as his five-under-par 67 left him three shots adrift of compatriot Nick Watney.

Kim's feat is even more impressive considering he was unable to complete a practice round after encountering visa problems which led to a trip via Hong Kong.

"I played well last week and it's been some hard work, but it's paid off in the last couple of weeks and I feel like my good play from last week has turned into good play this week," he added.

"I would say I played smart instead of aggressive. I'm playing a lot smarter and I'm just trying to play the percentages because I didn't get the practice round in."