Sei Young Kim – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Sei Young Kim’s record-tying 29 vaults her atop packed board at KPMG Women’s PGA

After Round 2, Sei Young Kim leads the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship by one shot.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – As darkness fell on Aronimink, Sei Young Kim’s fire lit up the board as she put the finishing touches on a 5-under 65. Kim birdied four consecutive holes (Nos. 4-7) to shoot 6-under 29 on the front nine and take the midway lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA at 4-under 136.

A 10-time winner on the LPGA without a major title, 27-year-old Kim has yet to finish outside the top 25 in five appearances at this championship. She finished second to Inbee Park in 2015 and tied for fourth in 2017.

Kim’s 29 ties the scoring record for the Women’s PGA. In 2018 at the BMW Championship, both Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas shot 29 on the front nine in soft conditions at Aronimink.

It was anything but soft on this fall Friday afternoon.

SCORES: KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

When asked if she felt ready to win a major, Kim said, “It’s always my goal.”

Thirteen players finished the first two rounds under par. Four players trail Kim by one stroke including Danielle Kang, Anna Nordqvist, Jennifer Kupcho and Carlota Ciganda.

Major winners Lydia Ko, Brittany Lincicome and In Gee Chun are within three strokes.

Nordqvist won this tournament back in 2009 as a rookie on the LPGA. She didn’t have a full status going into the event, having only made four previous professional starts.

“I remember I teed off first on Thursday morning at like 6:30 or something,” said Nordqvist, “and then played in the last group on Sunday. That was a big moment because it was questioned whether I should stay in school or leave school, but I followed my heart and went the pro route, and I think winning, knowing that I was going to have status on Tour for the next three years, that was huge for me.”

Nordqvist is one of three Arizona State players on the leaderboard, joined by fellow Swede Linnea Strom (-2) and Spain’s Ciganda (-3).

Annika Sorenstam turned 50 on Oct. 9 and both Nordqvist and Strom reflected on what the LPGA’s legend has meant to them personally.

“I started playing golf when I was 13,” said Nordqvist, “so that would have been back in, I think, 2000, which was probably her peak year. So being able to grow up and having a role model from Sweden at the top of the world was pretty awesome, and just a lot of inspiration.”

Sorenstam retired the year before Nordqvist came out on tour, but she played for Sorenstam on the Solheim Cup team and for years lived in the same Lake Nona community.

Strom, 23, first met Sorenstam as a 12-year-old at a camp in Sweden and won the ANNIKA Invitational Europe in 2012.

“It’s always been a big motivation, what she’s done,” said Strom, who won on the Symetra Tour in 2018 and was a rookie on the LPGA last season.

LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park and Brooke Henderson, both past champions of this event, are four strokes back.

Kupcho, winner of the 2019 Augusta Women’s Amateur, matched Kim’s 65 as did LPGA rookie Bianca Pagdanganan, who rebounded from an opening 77. Pagdanganan currently leads the LPGA in driving distance at 287 yards.

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Anna Nordqvist builds three-shot cushion at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship

No one could quite match Anna Nordqvist in the second round of the Wal-Mart NW Arkansas Championship on Saturday.

No one could quite match Anna Nordqvist in the second round of the Wal-Mart NW Arkansas Championship on Saturday. Nordqvist hasn’t made a bogey yet at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas. An opening 64 followed by a stunning 9-under 62 on Saturday left her out of reach.

In fact, no one could get closer than three shots. That’s the margin Nordqvist will take into the final round of the Arkansas LPGA event.

Nordqvist kept giving herself opportunities and she kept capitalizing on them.

“I would say like it’s just nice to see hard work pay off, and also see a lot of, you know – I feel like I’ve been off for a little bit last couple years, but it’s just nice to have some sort of consistency back,” she said. “Yeah, not every week it’s not going to pay off, but I been trying to keep my head up and just keep going, keep working at it. Certainly when it does pay off, it’s a great feeling.”

The last of Nordqvist’s eight career LPGA victories came in 2017. She won the Bank of Hope Founders Cup and the Evian Championship, an LPGA major, that year.

It has been a bumpy road back to this level of confidence in her game, but Arkansas is a place that feels familiar.

“There is something about Arkansas,” she said. “Always liked this place. Probably one of the few places in the U.S. I could really see myself being because I like the atmosphere here.”

The closest player on Nordqvist’s heels on Saturday evening was Sei Young Kim, who won the CME Group Tour Championship in November. Kim had a second-round 64 to reach 13 under.

Nelly Korda, Jenny Shin and Austin Ernst were all tied for third at 12 under.

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Hall of Famers Inbee Park, John Smoltz in control at LPGA TOC

Inbee Park and John Smoltz hold the lead at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions entering Sunday’s final round.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – When Inbee Park wants something, she won’t be denied. Park has her mind set on the Olympics in 2020, and right now she’s the second alternate on the list of South Koreans.

So guess what? She’s leading by two at the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. And she was bogey-free for 53 holes until a pesky three-putt on the par-3 18^th. She’s been rolling in putts so nonchalantly this week we’d already given her that 4-footer for par.

Alas, she’s human.

MORE: Leaderboard

“Yeah, it was a really good day out there,” said Park, who carded a 67 to get to 13-under 200. “Especially my ball-striking was flawless today.”

Flawless. Rare is the day when Park uses that adjective to describe her own game. But she’s feeling good, and rightfully so.

Sei Young Kim, the woman who took home an LPGA record $1.5 million last November at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, took off three weeks during the offseason and, understandably, spent much of her time buying other people dinner.

Now she’s back at it, matching Park’s 67 thanks to four consecutive birdies on the back nine. She’ll be chasing a player she looked up to in high school but defeated in a memorable playoff at the 2015 Lotte Championship in Hawaii. After chipping in for par on the 18^thhole to get into a playoff, Kim then holed out her approach from the fairway to defeat Park in epic fashion.

If only Sunday at Tranquilo could be so dramatic.

“She’s very consistent,” said Kim of Park. “It’s very opposite my character.”

Nasa Hataoka sits three shots back alone in third. Celine Boutier followed up an ace on Friday with a holed-out shot from the fairway on the par-4 16^thhole. She’s four back and in fourth.

John Smoltz during the third round of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions at Tranquilo Golf Course at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

John Smoltz won last year’s celebrity division and goes into this year’s final round with a four-point advantage over Mardy Fish. Smoltz said he’ll be focused on making pars Sunday in the Stableford format. He has 111 points.

“If someone beats me,” said Smoltz, “they’ll have to make a lot of birdies. That’s the way I approached it last year, and it held up. So I’ll do the same this year.”

Park hasn’t started her season this early since 2016, the last Olympic year. She won a gold medal in Rio de Janeiro after a long layoff due to injury, one of the most remarkable feats of her Hall of Fame career.

While Park is a seven-time major winner, Kim is the best player on tour without a major. Park is looking for her 20^thLPGA career title. Kim is gunning for her 11^th.

Should Kim win tomorrow, she’d be the first player since Louise Suggs in 1960-61 to finish a season with a victory and enter the next with an official win.

Should Park win tomorrow, well, it might signal the start of a monster year.

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Top 10 LPGA moments in 2019: Storied career ends and a real-life Cinderella emerges

The LPGA is full of fairy-tale moments. Some are on the grandest stages involving the game’s biggest stars and some come out of nowhere.

There’s never a shortage of fairy tale moments on the LPGA. Some of them happen on the grandest of stages from the game’s biggest stars. Others come hurtling out of nowhere.

Breaking a record held by 15-time major champion Tiger Woods usually fast-tracks a player to this type of year-end list. There were grab-a-tissue moments and “are you kidding me?!” putts. A real-life Cinderella who just couldn’t stop smiling and a one-time villain who flipped the script on how she’ll be remembered in this game with one sensational Sunday.

So here they are, the top 10 moments on the LPGA in 2019:

10. Dream team

Teammates Cydney Clanton (right) and Jasmine Suwannapura celebrate on the 18th green after winning the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. (Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

A caddie brought Cydney Clanton and Jasmine Suwannapura together for the inaugural Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, but Clanton believes it was more of a divine plan. One year ago, Clanton missed out on her full card by $8. After a closing 59, the Auburn grad had a two-year exemption and a spot in the Evian Championship and AIG Women’s British Open. Suwannapura’s invitation proved life-changing for her partner, who’d spent most of the year on the Symetra Tour.

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Lexi Thompson finishes strong at CME, but her season’s not over

Lexi Thompson will play in the QBE Shootout, and Brooke Henderson says she’ll head home to Canada for a short break.

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Defending champion Lexi Thompson shot a final-round 68 to move up into a tie for sixth. She had five birdies after making a bogey on No. 3, and again looked more comfortable on the greens since switching back to the claw grip for the second round.

“It was a little shaky of a start, but I stayed strong,” she said. “(Caddie) Benji (Thompson) helped me out a lot out there with the struggle on the first few holes. Finished strong, so I’m very happy with my final round. I’ll be back here in two weeks. My season is not over.”

Thompson will be playing in the QBE Shootout, Greg Norman’s 12 two-person team event from Dec. 11-15 back at Tiburón, with Sean O’Hair. It will be the first time for the pairing. Thompson has played with Bryson DeChambeau once and Tony Finau the past two years.

“He has been pretty close with my brother,” she said. “He grew up with Nick and everything, so they’re close. I’ve met him once or twice, so not super close. He’s such a nice guy, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Henderson shines

Brooke Henderson had her best finish in the CME Group Tour Championship. The Canadian who has a residence at Miromar Lakes was solo fifth after a 5-under 67 to get to 15 under, three behind winner Sei Young Kim on Sunday.

“It was a good round,” Henderson said. “Got off to a pretty good start. Front nine things were looking good. Would’ve liked to get a few more on the back, but overall really happy. Really happy with how 2019 went. Looking forward to the offseason, hopefully get a little better, and be ready for 2020.”

Henderson said she will spend a couple of months in Southwest Florida before heading back to Canada.

“I’m actually going to be here quite a lot, basically like two months. I’m only going home for a couple weeks,” she said.

Henderson was 3 under at the turn, but parred the first six holes on the back. That included what could’ve been a great birdie after hitting out of bushes.

“My stance wasn’t very comfortable,” she said. “It was even hard because of the long grass. I guess the individual grasses were sticking out over my ball so I couldn’t even really get my club behind it, so I was like hovering it like this far above it.

“But was able to hit a great shot. Yeah, unfortunately didn’t convert the birdie, but I was happy to walk away with par there.”

Korda power

Nelly Korda may not have pulled out the win, but Korda and her sister Jessica finished tied for third and tied for sixth, respectively.

“Obviously for me Solheim Cup was a highlight of the year,” Jessica Korda said. “So much fun to be a part of playing. Obviously not the finish that we all wanted, but incredible for Suzann (Pettersen, who made the winning putt for Europe).”

Alex shakes off bad back

An achy back wasn’t going to keep Marina Alex from trying to turn in another strong finish. Alex shot a 5 under 67 to tie for 11th.

After shooting an opening-round 68 to be just three shots off the lead, Alex had to fight a sore back that hampered her start in the second round. She was 3 over after seven holes and considered withdrawing.

“I kind of got unlucky, just woke up Friday and it just wasn’t feeling good but it’s getting better now but (Saturday) and Friday was definitely a struggle,” Alex said. “It was good to finish good today and stick with it.”

But the 26-year old found her rhythm, playing her final 11 holes Friday in 5 under to card a 70. She still was feeling the effects of her back Saturday, but still made it to 9 under with three birdies in her first six holes. She came home with four bogeys and a bogey to stay at 6 under heading into Sunday.

Sunday, Alex turned at just 1 under for the day, but caught fire on the back nine with five birdies but gave a shot back at the 18th to finish her tournament at 11 under par.

Alex missed only one fairway the entire week.

Chip shots

CME Group chairman and CEO Terry Duffy spent a few minutes with Terry Gannon in the booth during the live NBC broadcast Sunday. Duffy reiterated his reasons for raising the purse to $5 million and the winner’s check to a record $1.5 million.

“We think it’s the right thing to do,” Duffy said. “Half of my management team is comprised of women. I’m very big into making sure everybody gets equal opportunities. … I thought to myself ‘What can we possibly do to make the winner comparable to a PGA Tour victory?’ I thought that was important for us to do.”

Part-time Naples resident Steve Stricker, a former winner at the QBE Shootout played at Tiburón Golf Club, was spotted in the gallery with his family. Stricker is a vice-captain for Tiger Woods for next month’s Presidents Cup.

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Nichols: Nelly Korda has only scratched the surface

Beth Ann Nichols writes Nelly Korda easily answers the question, “Who’s the next big star in the LPGA?”

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NAPLES, Fla. – The first time Nelly Korda came out to watch big sister, Jessica, play in a professional event was the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open at Interlachen. Nelly remembers standing outside the clubhouse watching Annika Sorenstam drain an eagle putt on the 18th green. Morgan Pressel took her on a tour of the locker room. Somewhere there’s a picture of Nelly wearing her dad’s tall socks, rolled down, on a dewy morning in Edina, Minn.

“Yeah, she was a local,” said Jessica. “Like I said, she’s been out here as long as I have.”

Nelly was born into tennis but raised on golf. And she’s a kid no more. The 21-year-old ended the 2019 LPGA season as the top-ranked American and No. 3 in the world.

MORE: LPGA schedule, results | Gallery

For those who follow this tour closely, she’s the answer to the ever-popular question: Who’s the next big star?

That’s not wishful thinking, though Nelly certainly presents the complete package. Extraordinary genes, model-like looks, an enviable golf swing, firepower, intensity and an easy laugh. Despite all that she even seems relatable.

It’s all there.

“She’s not even close to playing her best golf yet,” said Stacy Lewis, the last American to reach No. 1. “The way golf courses are set up, they’re set up for the long bombers. They’re perfect for her.”

An unusually off ball-striking day in the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship kept an historic $1.5 million payday out of reach for young Korda, who fell short to Sei Young Kim.

Nelly Korda of the United States talks with her caddie before taking a drop on the ninth hole during the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 24, 2019 in Naples, Florida. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

But her third full season on the LPGA brought a good deal of growth.

She won twice, deepening that rich Korda legacy at the Australian Open. Father, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open tennis tournament and younger brother Sebastian claimed the 2018 Australian Open junior tennis title. Jessica’s first LPGA victory came at the 2012 Aussie Open.

Nelly successfully defended an LPGA title for the first time in Taiwan, calling it a new kind of pressure. She fed off it, winning in a playoff.

“I would still like to minimize my mistakes,” said Nelly of what can improve in 2020. She plans to take two weeks off before pressing on.

Beyond all the physical attributes, the intangibles are what make Nelly a most intriguing prospect as No. 1. And she’s not afraid to say that being No. 1 is her No. 1 goal.

Players have been known to shy away from that kind of declaration past a certain age.

“Nelly seems to have more here to me,” said Judy Rankin, patting her heart.

It’s not easy being the first. Jessica, 26, blazed the family trail, set the bar and Nelly followed. There was a support system already in place when Nelly started traveling the world.

She even had a built-in Solheim Cup partner, and the sisters went undefeated together at Gleneagles.

Nelly spent a lifetime chasing Jessica. Now it’s Nelly who’s lighting the fire and, in a way, making the tour feel more like home.

“I feel more comfortable,” said Jessica. “I have my little sis with me. Again, I don’t have to – it’s not that you’re searching for friends or anything like that. It’s just that with her, like, you don’t have to be anybody. You don’t have to worry that you’re going to say the wrong thing. You don’t have to – you just know.”

It’s another layer of intangibles that makes their future so bright. The tour can be a lonely place.

Megan Khang became close friends with Nelly when they played together in the Junior Solheim Cup. They often room together on the road, watching scary movies to unwind.

Khang describes Nelly as the perfect example of work hard, play hard. That quiet fire inside the ropes melts away when it’s time to leave the office.

“She’s gonna hate me,” said Khang, “but she’s super goofy.”

As Sei Young Kim posed on the 18^thgreen with the largest check in women’s golf history, Nelly playfully jogged back to the Ritz Carlton with Jessica’s Mini Goldendoodle, Charlie.

Nelly has only scratched the surface of her potential. The sports world will find out soon enough.

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How much money each golfer earned at the CME Group Tour Championship

We list the payouts for each player who made the cut at the 2019 CME Group Tour Championship.

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Sei Young Kim won the CME Group Tour Championship in dramatic fashion with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.

Kim held off several competitors Sunday at Tiburon Golf Club as she shot a final-round 70. With her win, the 26-year-old Kim claimed the biggest winner’s check in women’s golf history — $1.5 million — for a week’s work in Naples, Florida.

MORE: LPGA schedule, results | Gallery

The CME title marks Kim’s 10th career LPGA victory, her third of 2019, and helped give her financial stability for the foreseeable future.

Below is a breakdown of how much each player earned in Naples this week:

Position	Player	To par	Earnings
1	Sei Young Kim	-18	$1,500,000
2	Charley Hull	-17	$480,000
T-3	Danielle Kang	-16	$269,637
T-3	Nelly Korda	-16	$269,637
5	Brooke M. Henderson	-15	$176,570
T-6	Lexi Thompson	-13	$119,683
T-6	Jessica Korda	-13	$119,683
T-6	Su Oh	-13	$119,683
T-9	Brittany Altomare	-12	$82,790
T-9	So Yeon Ryu	-12	$82,790
T-11	Ally McDonald	-11	$59,613
T-11	Marina Alex	-11	$59,613
T-11	Georgia Hall	-11	$59,613
T-11	Ariya Jutanugarn	-11	$59,613
T-11	Jeongeun Lee6	-11	$59,613
T-11	Jin Young Ko	-11	$59,613
T-11	Caroline Masson	-11	$59,613
T-18	Katherine Kirk	-10	$46,289
T-18	Bronte Law	-10	$46,289
T-20	Inbee Park	-9	$42,234
T-20	Mi Jung Hur	-9	$42,234
T-20	Yu Liu	-9	$42,234
23	Megan Khang	-8	$39,529
24	Hyo Joo Kim	-7	$38,179
T-25	Shanshan Feng	-6	$35,052
T-25	Nasa Hataoka	-6	$35,052
T-25	Carlota Ciganda	-6	$35,052
T-25	Amy Yang	-6	$35,052
T-29	Eun-Hee Ji	-5	$30,447
T-29	Alena Sharp	-5	$30,447
T-29	Lizette Salas	-5	$30,447
T-29	Nanna Koerstz Madsen	-5	$30,447
T-33	Nicole Broch Larsen	-4	$27,363
T-33	Azahara Munoz	-4	$27,363
T-35	Wei-Ling Hsu	-3	$24,997
T-35	Jenny Shin	-3	$24,997
T-35	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	-3	$24,997
38	Jennifer Kupcho	-2	$23,309
T-39	Jaye Marie Green	-1	$21,322
T-39	Moriya Jutanugarn	-1	$21,322
T-39	Jasmine Suwannapura	-1	$21,322
T-39	Jing Yan	-1	$21,322
T-43	Ashleigh Buhai	E	$18,619
T-43	Mi Hyang Lee	E	$18,619
T-43	Amy Olson	E	$18,619
T-43	Cheyenne Knight	E	$18,619
T-47	Gaby Lopez	+1	$16,717
T-47	Morgan Pressel	+1	$16,717
T-47	Celine Boutier	+1	$16,717
50	Anna Nordqvist	+2	$15,703
T-51	Stacy Lewis	+3	$15,028
T-51	Chella Choi	+3	$15,028
T-53	Kristen Gillman	+4	$14,351
T-53	Lydia Ko	+4	$14,351
55	Minjee Lee	+5	$13,846
T-56	Mirim Lee	+6	$13,337
T-56	Hannah Green	+6	$13,337
58	Annie Park	+7	$12,832
59	Angel Yin	+10	$12,493

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LPGA: No one wanted a runway with $1.5 million on the line

The CME Group Tour Championship is looking like a nail-biter after the third round and it shouldn’t end any other way.

NAPLES, Fla. – For a while there it looked like no one was even going to put up a fight against Sei Young Kim for the biggest check in the history of women’s golf.

Apologies to Kim fans everywhere, but that would’ve been a shame. With a $1.5 million payday for the winner, the CME Group Tour Championship deserves a scintillating Sunday, and chances are we’re going to get it.

Kim, a nine-time winner on the LPGA, holds a one-stroke lead over Nelly Korda, the top-ranked American who has yet to win on American soil. A victory at the CME would move Korda to No. 2 in the world. After carding a double-bogey on the third hole, the lyrics of Big Sean popped into Korda’s mind: “Last night I took an L but tonight I bounced back.”

MORE: Leaderboard | Photo gallery | Tee times, viewing info

A flurry of birdies followed.

There’s no handbag on the line this year between Nelly and her older sister, Jessica, but let’s just say the stakes have grown.

Golf Channel guest analyst Cristie Kerr, a former champion here at Tiburon Golf Club, predicated that players up to six back have a chance. Kim’s second-round 68 puts her at 16 under. The list of players at 10 under includes Jessica, World No. 1 Jin Young Ko, Brooke Henderson and Su Oh.

Last year CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy called LPGA commissioner Mike Whan and told him that he was sick of watching a man on the PGA Tour walk off with a $1.5 million check every weekend. In the corporate world, Duffy explained, he wouldn’t pay a man a different rate than a woman to do the same job.

“At my event,” said Duffy, “a woman is going to win $1.5 million.”

And so it will be.

Rather than a handful of players competing for a $1 million bonus, now 60 have a chance at the record prize.

“I didn’t send him data; I didn’t ask him for a brand analysis,” said Whan. “He didn’t send four agencies to do a review. He just said, in my world, that’s how it’s done.”

There’s been a different feel to the CME all week. Players talk about just trying to win a trophy, but there’s no getting around the fact that it’s going to feel like a major championship on Sunday. Back-nine nerves will be cranking. Some might even shake.

Only four of the LPGA majors even offer a winner’s check that’s bigger than the $480,000 second-place prize here.

Nelly said songs run through her head all the time on the golf course. She’s into everything but the Blues. Occasionally she’ll pick up something she hears in the crowd. Anything beats thinking about that big box of cash.

There are so many Sunday scenarios that would put a bow on the LPGA’s 2019 season, starting with a Korda sister shootout. Henderson, a resident of nearby Miromar Lakes, could give all the Canadian fans soaking up the rays a rousing show. Or what about Caroline Masson, the German whose fiancé is on Nelly’s bag, going up against Nelly in the same group for a third time this year. Nelly defeated Masson in singles at the Sohleim Cup and then again in a playoff earlier this month in Taiwan.

“It was cool and special,” said Masson, “and now we’re (making it) a habit. Maybe not that special anymore.”

Or what about Ko potentially capping off the game’s most dominant season in style? She’s already wrapped up the Rolex Player of the Year Award, Annika Major Award and No. 1 ranking. A victory would give her the money title and a final-round 65 would make her the second player in LPGA history to break the 69 mark in scoring average, joining Annika Sorenstam. She has locked up the Vare Trophy regardless.

It’s fitting that Whan’s 10^thseason as LPGA commissioner signs off with an historically large check. What’s happening this week at the CME is a sign of what’s possible on the LPGA. Not that anyone is satisfied.

Now it’s up to the players to put on a show.

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Sei Young Kim clings to 1-shot lead with $1.5 million on the line

Sei Young Kim is giving that $1.5 million prize her all. After the third round, she holds a one-shot lead at the CME Group Tour Championship

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Sei Young Kim was on the verge of taking all the drama out of the chase for the richest payoff in women’s golf history.

She opened with three birdies in seven holes Saturday in the CME Group Tour Championship as her challengers either stalled or faded. She led by five shots before making the turn.

Kim hit the brakes.

Nelly Korda hit the gas.

When the third round ended at Tiburon Golf Club, Kim had to settle for a 4-under 68 and a one-shot lead over Korda with one round remaining to see who wins the $1.5 million.

MORE: Leaderboard | Photo gallery | Tee times, viewing info

Both made it sound as though it will be just another round of golf.

Then again, no one in LPGA Tour history has ever played for this much cash. It’s more than either of them has made all year.

“I had a pretty solid round front nine,” Kim said. “But back nine was little tough to focus. I kept thinking about future, so I was like, ‘Nope, Sei Young. Stop thinking. Focus on it.’ I had a lot of chances back nine. Going to practice and ready for tomorrow.”

Korda, who has a chance to reach No. 2 in the women’s world ranking with a victory, fell back early with a double bogey by going long of the green on the par-3 fourth. She recovered with three birdies over the next five holes, and then really turned it on.

“Kind of hit the brakes every single day on the back nine,” Korda said. “I told myself to be really aggressive on the back nine, and it worked out today.”

She opened with three straight birdies, holing out from a greenside bunker on No. 11, and she was back in the game. Korda shot a 31 on the back nine for a 66.

Kim was at 16-under 200 and will be in the final group with Korda.

Caroline Masson of Germany, who will join them in the final pairing, had a 70 and was four shots behind, with Charley Hull of England another shot behind after a 66.

For so many others, an ideal day for scoring at Tiburon turned out to be a lost opportunity.

Brooke Henderson of Canada, who attracted the biggest gallery playing with Korda and with a horde of Canadians in Florida for the winter, had bogeys on three of the par 5s and never got anything going for a 71. She was six shots behind.

Defending champion Lexi Thompson made an early charge, only to be slowed by a pair of bogeys on the back — all her bogeys this week have been on the back nine — that gave her a 70 and put her seven shots behind.

Kim has shown few signs of coming back to the field. She has made only one bogey through 54 holes, and with her strong start it looked as though the 26-year-old Korean might run away from the field.

The back nine changed everything.

Korda appeared to be in trouble on No. 11 when she fanned a shot from the waste area into a bunker. She blasted it out and watched the ball crash into the pin and drop for birdie. She made another at the par-3 12th and took advantage at the end with a 4-hybrid on the green at the par-5 17th for at two-putt birdie.

Kim gave herself plenty of reasonable looks at birdie on the back nine. She couldn’t get any to fall except for a 25-footer on the 15th hole that restored her lead to two shots, but only briefly.

Kim’s second shot into the 17th was well short and to the right into a bunker, and she blasted out to some 30 feet away. She played away from the flag on the 18th and two-putted for par from about 40 feet.

Still, she was in the lead after the third straight day, one step closer to a massive payoff.

The format changed this year from a points-based system in which only the top 12 players had a shot at a $1 million bonus to any of the 60 players who made it to the Tour Championship getting $1.5 million in official money by winning the tournament.

Jin Young Ko, celebrated Thursday night as LPGA Player of the Year, tried to get back into the game with a 66. She still was six shots behind along with Jessica Korda (69), the older sister of Nelly Korda.

Ko is virtually a lock to win the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average and needs a 65 to become only the second woman to finish with a sub-69 average score for the year.

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Sei Young Kim leads by 2 at CME after pep talk from Cristie Kerr

Kim punctuated her round by sticking a 6-iron to a foot on No. 18 to get a two-shot cushion over Germany’s Caroline Masson.

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NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim didn’t light it up in the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship like she did in the first round.

But at the end of the day Friday, the spotlight was still shining on the South Korean at the top.

One day after shooting a 7-under 65 at Tiburón Golf Club, Kim dropped out of the lead, but came back with three birdies in her last six holes and remained up by two going into the weekend.

“I shot pretty solid round today,” Kim said. “My shots and putting wasn’t anything bad today. I think I had a lot of chances for birdie today but I couldn’t make a couple.”

Kim punctuated her round by sticking a 6-iron to a foot on No. 18 to get that two-shot cushion over Germany’s Caroline Masson at 12-under 132. She got a pep talk from Cristie Kerr, who was working as a guest on-course analyst for the Golf Channel. After missing a birdie putt on No. 17, Kerr told her dinner would taste better if she had a good finish.

“I just said ‘Yeah I’m going to make the birdie,'” Kim said. “It came true.”

Masson had her own memorable finish, making a long downhill putt from just off the green for birdie. Masson had a 4-iron coming in that went long.

“Just went over the green just a little bit, which it’s not awful but it’s not easy coming through the fringe which is very grainy and downhill after that,” Masson said. “To be honest, I hit it a little bit hard. It was tracking, though. It was on line and hit the pin and went in.

“Just the little luck that you need sometimes, and I feel like I earned that this week giving myself chances, and once in a while you make one of these, and it really feels really good.”

The touted global tour is in evidence on the leaderboard with nine countries represented in the top 14 (which goes through 6 under). Five are Americans, and only two are South Koreans.

Saturday’s third round will be live on Golf Channel digital from 1 to 4 p.m., and on TV from 4 to 7 p.m. tape delayed.

Nelly Korda was feeling good after taking the lead with a 5-under front nine, but she stumbled, shooting 1 under on the back to finish at 9 under and is three behind. She fell into a tie for third with Canada’s Brooke Henderson.

“Definitely hit the brakes on the back,” Korda said. “Started missing my shots a little.”

Henderson, a Miromar Lakes resident, did just the opposite of Korda, draining a long birdie putt on No. 12 to kickstart a finish that featured five birdies in her last seven holes.

“I wasn’t hitting it that great, but then on the back nine I made a long putt on 12 and that really started to get things rolling, and I had a great crowd out there today, as well, which is always really fun,” Henderson said. “I started to make some birdies there, and it just seemed like I could make everything. So the last like six holes were really fun.”

Su Oh of Australia also jumped up the leaderboard and is in fifth at 8 under, one ahead of defending champion Lexi Thompson and Nelly Korda’s sister, Jessica, and China’s Yu Liu.

Jin Young Ko, who already has wrapped up the Player of the Year and No. 1 ranking, still is well back at 4 under, but remains in position to win the Vare Trophy for season-long stroke average.

The increase in the prize money – combining the $1 million Race to the CME Globe that existed previously with the $500,000 first-place check – and the doubling of the purse to $5 million has had the desired effect.

“It definitely feels like a U.S. Open or British Open,” Kim said. “It feels like a major tournament.”

With a major leaderboard going into the weekend.

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