Grace Kim tied the course record at Wilshire Country Club on Thursday with a 7-under 64. What would the Australian do for an encore in the shadows of the Hollywood Hills?
How about a second-round, 5-under 66, which staked her to a four-shot lead when she walked off the course late in the day Friday at the 2024 JM Eagle LA Championship.
Kim, who won as a rookie in 2023, is in a good position after 36 holes to earn her second LPGA victory. She would also be the third Aussie – and second in a row – to win at Wilshire, following Hannah Green (2023) and Minjee Lee (2019).
“I’ve been mentally in the dumps up until last week, and I wasn’t in a good place,” she said to Golf Channel’s Karen Stupples after her round. “But I knew I was close and I knew my game was good enough. I just mentally had to be sharp enough on the course, and I think having low expectations entering the week helped a lot.”
Kim went bogey free in her opening round. On Friday, after she bogeyed the par-3 12th hole, she quickly responded with an eagle on the 13th. Over two days, she has carded 11 birdies.
In seven LPGA tournaments so far in 2024, Kim has three missed cuts, including last week at the Chevron Championship, and a high finish of T-25, which came two months ago at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Aces high
Auston Kim made a hole-in-one on the par-3 18th hole, her ninth hole of the day, on Friday.
🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨
Auston Kim cards the second ace of the week on 18 and has the best celly 🥳🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZAXS1PpJ3m
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 26, 2024
It was the third ace of the week, joining Jeongeun Lee5 (18th hole, Thursday) and Alexa Pano (12th hole, Friday).