SEOUL– South Korea’s Kim Sei-young sits one stroke off the lead midway through the final major tournament of the 2021 LPGA season.
Kim shot a one-under 71 in the second round of the AIG Women’s Open at Carnoustie Golf Links in Carnoustie, Scotland, on Friday (local time). At six-under par for the tournament, Kim is one shot behind two co-leaders, Mina Harigae of the United States and Georgia Hall of England.
Another American player, Lizette Salas, is tied with Kim at six-under.
Kim, world No. 4, is trying to become the first South Korean to win an LPGA major title this year. The last time South Korea didn’t produce an LPGA major champion was 2010.
She is the only South Korean in the top 10 after 36 holes, with Ji Eun-hee tied for 18th at three-under.
Kim, who shot a five-under in the opening round, picked up four birdies over the first six holes of the second round. But consecutive bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes took some wind out of her sails. Kim bounced back with a birdie at the 14th to briefly take the lead but then had bogeys at the 15th and 17th.
Kim said afterward she wasn’t too pleased with her ball-striking and 71 was “the best score I could shoot today.”
“I scrambled really well. I think my ball-striking can get a bit better these next few days,” she said. “I think it’s just my alignment. If you’re not feeling that great with ball-striking, those bunkers are like magnets. I’ll just hit a few balls (on the practice range) and get my alignment straight.”
Kim had a 7:25 a.m. tee time for the second round and said she caught a lucky break with the relatively benign weather conditions early in the day. It’s no coincidence that Hariage and Hall, who shot 67 and 69, respectively, began their second round at 6:52 a.m. and 7:14 a.m.
“Hopefully, I think I’m going to have to get lucky with the weather again,” said Kim, who will start her third round at 1:50 p.m. Saturday. “You have to be aggressive on the pins that you can get to and if you don’t think you can pull it off, I think it’s just best to play it really safe. That’s quite important.”
Among other notables, the reigning U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso is one of seven players tied at five-under. Nelly Korda, world No. 1 and Olympic gold medalist, carded a 73 on Friday to fall to four-under for the tournament.
Park In-bee, the highest-ranked South Korean in the field this week at No. 3, struggled to a 75 in the second round to drop to one-over for the competition. She’s tied for 58th.
Source: Yohnap News Agency