NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Sei Young Kim ignored the manually operated leaderboards dotted around Aronimink as she started to rally her way into contention.
“I was in a good momentum, so I just wanted to ride on that,” Kim said.
By the time she finished sinking birdie after birdie en route toward matching a record round, Kim could afford a peek at the board: Her name was on top.
Kim birdied five of the final six holes as darkness fell Friday at Aronimink for a 5-under 65 and the second-round lead in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
The 27-year-old South Korean closed with a 6-under 29 on the front nine. She dropped early strokes on Nos. 11 and 12 and made her lone first-nine birdie on the par-5 16th.
“When we entered the front nine, the wind kind of slowed down and it was kind of easier to attack with my irons,” she said.
Kim had a 4-under 136 total at rugged 6,437-yard Aronimink. She tied Karrie Webb (2001) and Sarah Kemp (2011) for the lowest nine-hole score in the Women’s PGA Championship.
“The birdie on 14 was pretty good because it was a long birdie putt, and that’s when I started the four-birdie streak,” Kim said. “So I think that really helped me with momentum and finishing strong.”
A 10-time LPGA Tour winner, Kim is looking for her first major victory. She was runner-up at the 2015 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and tied for second at the Evian Championship in 2018.
The last four winners of the tournament either led or co-led after 36 holes.
Jennifer Kupcho (65), Danielle Kang (69), Carlota Ciganda (69) and Anna Nordqvist (68) were a stroke back.
