HONOLULU (AP) — A Lim Kim delivered a stunning hole-in-one on the par-3 ninth and finished strong with birdies on the final two holes, shooting a 5-under 67 to take a one-shot lead over Nataliya Guseva on Friday at the Lotte Championship.
“First, I calculated the number, then chose my line, and hit it,” Kim explained after using a 9-iron on the 140-yard hole. “I think it was 99% luck.”
Kim recovered from a bogey on the par-4 16th by birdying both the par-4 17th and the par-5 18th, finishing with a total of 14-under 202 at Hoakalei Country Club, where the event, which started on Wednesday, is set to conclude with one final round.
“Every tournament, I just focus on my line and then hit it. That’s all. I don’t worry about the result,” Kim said.
Ranked No. 65 in the Race to CME Globe, Kim has just two more tournaments to break into the top 60 and secure a spot in the season-ending event, which offers a $4 million winner’s purse. The 29-year-old South Korean golfer, who claimed her first LPGA Tour title at the U.S. Women’s Open in December 2020, is aiming for a strong finish.
Guseva, a 21-year-old aiming to make history as the first Russian LPGA Tour winner, posted a 68. She bogeyed the 17th for the third consecutive day.
