Grace Kim has marked off another career milestone after making the cut on the number in her debut US Women’s Open.
At the end of day two, the Aussie flag is flying high at the top of the leaderboard at Pine Needles Lodge in North Carolina, courtesy of Minjee Lee. Her two-round score of nine-under sees the West Australian sitting in a tie for the lead alongside American Mina Harigae.
Kim (+3) and 2019 PGA champion Hannah Green (-1) were the only two other Aussies to make the cut, with Sarah Kemp ( +4) and Gabriele Ruffels (+7) both missing out on playing the weekend.
Kim had a nervous wait post-round, and when the cut line moved out to plus three late, she was a very relieved woman indeed.
“It was a pretty tough battle. You had to stay patient, and I think I did that well the past two days,” A happy Kim beamed post-round.
“It was tough making birdies because it did get quite windy. It was much windier today than yesterday, so I didn’t manage to hit my shots as close as I wanted to.
“I had a lot of opportunities, but I was a long, long way away from the pin, so it was mainly lagging the putts down to make par.
The Avondale rookie said keeping her composure as she worked her way through the treacherous closing holes was the key and not letting the pressure of the moment get to her. Making the cut, she added, was almost the last thing on her mind.
“The greens are tough. They are like Royal Melbourne, but much harder. Some of the shots in are a bit scary; making sure they don’t bounce over the back.”
“I didn’t get mad at anything, maybe just a little frustrated after the two bogies on my front nine today, but you have to grind it out, and I made sure I just trotted through.
“I made a good putt right-to left-downhill on the fourth (her 14th hole for the day), and that helped me make sure I kept doing the right things coming home.”
” I didn’t know the cut was going to go out to three over, so I just made sure I gave it on my all. it’s never over until the end,” she explained.
With a handy cheque now in the offing and some serious world ranking points ready to boost her position, Kim said she wouldn’t be changing too much over the week as she seeks to move up the leaderboard.
“I’m not going to do anything much different to my routine over the weekend.
“No three-putts would be great,” She smiled. “Either way, I’ll definitely be having fun.”
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