CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL @STARADVERTISER.COM A Lim Kim tees off in the second round of the Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club on Thursday.
1/2 CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL @STARADVERTISER.COM A Lim Kim tees off in the second round of the Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club on Thursday.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL @STARADVERTISER.COM Malia Nam of Hawaii made the cut Thursday.
2/2 CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL @STARADVERTISER.COM Malia Nam of Hawaii made the cut Thursday.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL @STARADVERTISER.COM A Lim Kim tees off in the second round of the Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club on Thursday.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL @STARADVERTISER.COM Malia Nam of Hawaii made the cut Thursday.
RELATED PHOTO GALLERY A rainbow accompanied by a light drizzle graced the Hoakalei Country Club Thursday afternoon.
They appeared to bless a barrage of birdies from A Lim Kim, who at the time separated herself from the rest of the leaderboard with three holes remaining in the second round of the LPGA Lotte Championship.
But things changed quickly.
Kim’s near-complete monster round that gave her a two-shot lead with four birdies on the first six of her final nine holes ended in a way that could haunt her later.
Instead of putting the finishing touches on a masterpiece, Kim made bogey on his last two holes.
She still finished with a 3-under 69 for the day, but Kim’s late errors allowed Nataliya Guseva, Ruixin Liu and Yuri Yoshida to start today’s third round tied with her at -9 for the tournament.
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Guseva made an eagle on the par-4 hole No. 7.
“I holed out from 110 yards, which was probably the highlight of the day today,” she said. “I didn’t even see the ball go in, but no, it was cool. I like that it just brings you more fire…I was just like, you know, go out there with confidence and make more birdies.
She did just that: three birdies after eagle helped her take a share of the lead heading into the third round.
Kim’s return to the field during the last two holes did not seem to bother her afterward. The 2020 US Open winner knows there’s still plenty of golf left to play and chose to evaluate her round in its entirety, not just how it ended.
“Really good swing, then I shot it well, putting it in well,” Kim said. “It’s good today.”
Late attacks from Americans Ryann O’Toole and Auston Kim propelled them to fifth and sixth place, two and three shots behind Kim.
Then five other golfers, including Savannah Grewal and Polly Mack, who were just behind Kim much of the afternoon, are tied for seventh at 6 under. Nasa Hataoka is also in T7 after posting the best round of the day with 8-under 64 and gaining 81 places.
Kim started the round with a one-shot advantage at the top of a very tight leaderboard. But Yoshida took the lead early Thursday, finishing his morning round strong with birdies on the final two holes.
She was alone atop the leaderboard early in the afternoon until Kim caught fire in the middle of her back nine to find herself at 11 under with three holes to play.
Meanwhile, Guseva briefly tied Kim at 10 under with birdies at 14 and 15.
The top nine players after the first round represented different countries. The same now applies to the four leaders: Kim (Korea), Guseva (Russia), Yoshida (Japan) and Liu (China).
Malia Nam, a Kaiser High graduate and LPGA rookie, made pars on the final 10 holes, after two birdies on the first three were negated by three bogeys before the turn.
“I did what I had to do, but it was a little more stressful than I would have liked. I knew I had to make par on the last hole,” said Nam, who added that she didn’t do as well as she would like.
But it was enough for 1-over to go with her 1-under on Wednesday and earn the tournament’s only home player tee times for today and Saturday as she reached the even-par cut line.
Angela Stanford is at the other end of her career from Nam, but she also had a special reason for wanting to advance to the second round. The seven-time LPGA winner with $12.3 million in career earnings announced earlier this year on social media that this would likely be her last event as a full-time LPGA Tour member.
And it looked like Thursday might be his last ride.
That was before Stanford chipped in for an eagle at No. 18 to card a 70 and sit at 1 under halfway through the event.
“You can’t finish in the top 10 if you don’t play on the weekend, so I had to get that game in first,” Stanford said. “So anything can happen here. … You know, I’m just going to think about it for the next couple of days and see what happens.
Stanford had a very remarkable result in Hawaii in 2009. Michelle Wie was ahead by three shots with eight holes to play at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay when Stanford caught fire with three birdies down the stretch to win.
Stanford has now made it nine times in 11 starts at Lotte. His best finish was second in 2014, the year Wie, now retired, won the tournament.
LOTTE SCORES, TEE TIMES LOTTE LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP At Hoakalei Golf Course Thursday second round; by 72 Nataliya Guseva ……………………..68-67—135 A Lim Kim ………………………………..66-69—135 Ruixin Liu ………………… ………………67-68—135 Yuri Yoshida …………………………….68-67—135 Ryann O’Toole …………………………70-66—136 Auston Kim ………………………………71-66—137 Savannah Grewal …………………………..68-70—138 Nasa Hataoka …………………………74-64— 138 You Min Hwang …………………….. 69-69—138 Polly Mack ……………………………….67-71—138 Ange Yin ……………………… …………70-68—138 Perrine Delacour ……………………… 67-72—139 Hyo Joo Kim …………………………….70-69—139 Jin Young Ko …… ………………………70-69—139 Grace Kim ……………………………… .72-68—140 Frida Kinhult …………………………….71- 69—140 Jeong Eun Lee ………………………..69-71—140 Sophia Popov ………… ……………….73-67—140 Yue Ren …………………… ……………..69-71—140 Pavarisa Yoktuan …………………….71-69—140 Ashleigh Buhai ………………………..70-71—141 Jodi Ewart Shadoff … ……………….73-68—141 Clariss Guce …………………………..69-72—141 Brooke Henderson …………………70-71—141 So young Lee …… …………………….71-70—141 Pernilla Lindberg ……………………..71-70—141 Thidapa Suwannapura ……………69-72—141 Robyn Choi …………… ……………….. 70-72—142 Amanda Doherty ……………………. 70-72—142 Lindy Duncan …………………………. 72-70—142 Ayaka Furue ……………………………. 70-72—142 Sofia Garcia …………………………….74-68—142 Kristen Gillman ………………………..71-71—142 Erika Hara ……………… ………………..73-69—142 Gina Kim ………………………………….69-73—142 Aline Krauter …………………………… 70-72 —142 Yan Liu …………………………………….. 70-72—142 Gaby López ……………………………. 72-70—142 Bianca Pagdanganan……………. 67-75—142 Annie Park ……………………………….74-68—142 Emily Kristine Pedersen …………. 70-72—142 Pauline Roussin-Bouchard …….74-68—142 Yu Jin Sung …………………………….. 72-70—142 Arpichaya Yubol ………………………71 -71—142 Liqi Zeng …………………………………. 72-70—142 Georgia Hall ……………………………72-71—143 Gurleen Kaur ………………………….. 70-73—143 Stéphanie Kyriacou ……………… … 70-73—143 Morgane Métraux …………………… 73-70—143 Azahara Munoz ………………………. 70-73—143 Kiira Riihijarvi …………………………… 70-73—143 Sophia Schubert …………………….71-72—143 Angela Stanford ……………………. 73-70—143 Xiaowen Yin ……………………………. 73-70—143 Hye Jin Choi ……………………………. 72-72—144 Olivia Cowan ……………………………70-74—144 Muni He …………………………………..69-75—144 Yu-Sang Hou … …………………………70-74—144 So Mi Lee ………………………………..72-72—144 Caroline Masson ……………………..70 -74—144 Malia Nam …………………………….71-73—144 Yuna Nishimura ……………………….69-75—144 Paula Reto …………………… …………..70-74—144 Mao Saigo ……………………………… ..74-70—144 Elizabeth Szokol ……………………..71-73—144 Failed to be selected Laetitia Beck …………………………… 72-73—145 Céline Borge …… …………………….. 74-71—145 Lauren Hartlage ………… …… 72-73—145 Soo Bin Joo ……………………………. 74-71—145 Minji Kang ……………………………….. 74-71—145 Cheyenne Knight …………………….76-69—145 Yu Liu ……………… ……………………….69-76—145 Hee-Young Park ………………………69-76—145 Alena Sharp …………………………….70-75 —145 Jennifer Song………………………….69-76—145 Kelly Tan ………………………………….. 73-72—145 Laura Wearn ……………… …………… 74-71—145 Marina Alex ………………………… ……73-73—146 Hyo Joon Jang ………………………….72-74—146 Danielle Kang ………………………….71-75—146 Minami Katsu ………… ………………..73-73—146 Maude-Aimée Leblanc …………….74-72—146 Jeongeun Lee ………………………….70-76—146 Roberta Liti ……………………………..73-73—146 Hira Naveed ………………………… …..74-72—146 Honorine Nobuta Ferry ……………74-72—146 Pornanong Phatlum ………………..76-70—146 Dottie Ardina … …………………………70 -77—147 Pei-Yun Chien ………………………….67-80—147 Isabelle Fierro …………………………. 72-75—147 Mone Inami …………………………….. 72-75—147 Caroline Inglis ………………………… 75-72—147 Jiwon Jeon ……………… ………………..77-70—147 Haeji Kang ………………………………..73-74—147 Alana Uriell ……………………………… 71- 76—147 Jing Yan …………………………………….73-74—147 Maria Fassi ……………………………….74-74—148 Min Lee ……… …………… ………………72-76—148 Kaitlin Milligan …………………………75-73—148 Natthakritta Vongtaveelap ………74-74—148 Dewi Weber …………… …………… …..74-74—148 Matilda Castren ………………………73-76—149 Ssu-Chia Cheng …………………….. 74-75—149 Mina Kreiter …………………………….. 75- 74—149 Mary Liu …………………………………..73-76—149 Emma Talley …………………… ……….76-73—149 Daniela Darquea ………… …………..73-77—150 Sandra Gal ……………………….74-76—150 Eun-Hee Ji ………………………………..74-76—150 Young Ga Lee ……………… ………….75-75—150 Jennifer Chang ………………………… 74-77—151 Cydney Clanton ………………………76-75—151 Kaitlyn Papp …………… ………………. 73-78—151 Gigi Stoll ………………………………….71-80—151 Benedetta Moresco ………………..78-74—152 Ana Pelaez Trivino ……………… …..72-81—153 Hinako Shibuno ………………………75-79—154 Amelia Lewis ……………………………77-79—156 Alexandra Forsterling ……………. .78-81—159 Start Times Third Round 7:25 a.m.—Yuna Nishimura 7:30 a.m.—Paula Reto, Muni He 7:40 a.m.—Yu-Sang Hou, Caroline Masson 7:50 a.m.—Elizabeth Szokol, Olivia Cowan 8:00 a.m. — Somi Lee, Malia Nam 8:10 a.m. — Mao Saigo, Hye-Jin Choi 8 : Furue, Robyn Choi 9:30 a.m.—Emily Kristine Pedersen, Yan Liu 9:40 a.m.—Arpichaya Yubol, Amanda Doherty 9:50 a.m.—Liqi Zeng, Kristen Gillman 10 a.m.—Yu Jin Sung, Gaby Lopez 10:10 a.m.—Erika Hara, Lindy Duncan 10:20 a.m.—Annie Park, Pauline Roussin – Bouchard 10:30 a.m.—Jasmine Suwannapura, Sofia Garcia 10 a.m. 40—Brooke Henderson, Clariss Guce 10:50 a.m.—Soyoung Lee, Ashleigh Buhai 11:00 a.m.—Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Pernilla Lindberg 11:10 a.m.—Jeongeun Lee5, Yue Ren 11:20 a.m. — Frida Kinhult, Pavarisa Yoktuan 11:30 a.m. — Sophia Popov , Grace Kim 11:40 a.m. — Jin Young Ko, Perrine Dela 11:50 a.m. — Polly Mack, Hyo Joo Kim Midi — Youmin Hwang, Savannah Grewal 12:10 p.m.—Nasa Hataoka, Angel Yin 12:20 p.m.—Ryann O’Toole, Auston Kim 12:30 p.m.—Ruixin Liu, A Lim Kim 12:40 p.m.—Nataliya Guseva, Yuri Yoshida
