Her first steps in the pro ranks might be humming along smoothly, but Grace Kim still admitted there were a few nervous butterflies around in the inaugural Women’s PGA Championship at Royal Queensland today.
Kim had her first taste of a big-time marquee grouping this afternoon, playing alongside former US Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy and recent Gippsland 6’s winner, Jack Thompson. And despite the tingles, Kim said she loved every minute of it.
“Being in the feature group, I was definitely nervous,” Kim said. “It was my first major event in front of a big gallery.”
It didn’t take the Avondale Star long to get down to business, binning a birdie on the second hole. However, she dropped a shot on the 4th, then swapped a birdie with a bogey on the 7th and 8th.
“I struggled to click into gear, definitely a case of nerves. The wind was up on the front nine. Four and eight were slips, silly mistakes.
“I tried to force a few shots. It never works when you do that, and it didn’t work today.”
After a mid-round reset, Kim got to work on the back nine. Determined to swing ‘comfortably’, birdies on the 12th and 14th saw Kim vault into second place, and she eventually signed for a two-under 69, three shots behind leader, Su Oh.
“I had to clear my mind on the back nine. I concentrated on simply swinging comfortably, rather than always trying to give it some.”
“Well, maybe, more like give it some in an appropriate way.” she laughed.
With her familiarity of fellow players growing by the tournament, Kim said she wasn’t going to make the same error of not knowing the career records of her playing partners this time around.
While familiar with Thompson through amateur golf, Kim said she knew of the feats of Ogilvy, especially his US Open win.
“I played the US Women’s Amateur at Winged Foot this year, and I had the same chip shot he had on the last when he won the US Open.
“We chatted a bit about his foundation and his Sandbelt Invitational, so yeah definitely know more about him than Peter Lonard.”
- Cover Image courtesy of SMP Images