Kim leads Hawaii qualifiers at U.S. Public Links
Advertiser Staff
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Kimberly Kim shot a 3-under-par 69 for the second straight day yesterday, finishing second in the qualifying and leading up to six other Hawai'i golfers who could advance to today's match play at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship
Kim, a 15-year-old former Big Island resident now living in Arizona, finished one shot behind Tiffany Lua at Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Ky.
Lua, of Rowland Heights, Calif., followed a career-best 67 with a 70 yesterday.
The match-play cut came at 9-over 153, with eight players — including Hawai'i's Stephanie Kono and Britney Choy — having to come back this morning to play off for the final five spots into the 64-player draw. Kono (77-76) and Choy (79-74) tied for 60th.
Here's how the other Hawai'i qualifiers fared:
Kahului's Kyung Kim (76-80—156) tied for 85th and Hilo's Summer Mizusawa (79-78—157) tied for 94th.
Kim had two bogeys and five birdies, the last coming at the 459-yard, par-5 18th hole. Her bogeys came at the par-5, 546-yard seventh hole and at the par-4, 347-yard 16th.
"I didn't play great or anything," Kim said in an article posted on uswapl.org. "But how I played these two days doesn't matter. That's what match play is all about."
Kim added the pressure of being the reigning Women's Amateur champion has raised other people's expectations of her.
"Yeah ... because people just expect me to do good and I don't think they should," said Kim. "I just want to play more consistently. If I lose my first match and I know I played well, then that's fine."
The first round of match play is today. The second and third rounds will be played tomorrow. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played Friday with a 36-hole final Saturday.
Hawai'i golfers have done well in this event.
Lori Castillo won in 1979 and 1980, capturing 11 consecutive matches before losing in the second round in 1981.
Michelle Wie, then 13, won in 2003 to become the youngest in the 108-year history of U.S. Golf Association to win an adult USGA event.
Kim finished second last year.
www.uswapl.org contributed to this report
