LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sei Young Kim shot her second straight 7-under 65 on Friday at El Caballero to take a one-stroke lead in the JM Eagle LA Championship, the final event before the first women’s major of the season.
Playing in the morning wave on the hilly, tree-lined course, Kim birdied two of the first three holes, then made a big move on the back nine with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch.
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“I just want to keep moving forward the next two days,” the 33-year-old South Korean player said. “I try to move forward whatever my position.”
First-round leader Chizzy Iwai of Japan was tied for second with Ina Yoon of South Korea.
Iwai followed her opening 63 with a 68, making three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine late in the afternoon.
She’s also looking to attack the course.
“I like aggressive golf,” Iwai said. “I think tomorrow I need to be aggressive.”
Yoon had a 64. She played her opening nine holes — the back nine at El Caballero — in 7-under 29 and added a birdie on the par-5 seventh.
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“I never shot 29 for nine holes in my life. It was unbelievable,” Yoon said. “The back nine was little bummer.”
The Chevron Championship is next week in Houston, with the Dallas area-based Kim excited about her strong play leading into the major.
“I’m very much looking to forward next week,” Kim said. “But I have two more days, so I just focus on this weekend.”
Kim won the BMW Ladies Championship last year in South Korea for the last of her 13 LPGA Tour titles. She won the 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her lone major title.
Iwai won last year in Mexico for her first LPGA Tour victory. Yoon is winless on the tour.
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Jin Hee Im (68), Melanie Green (68) and Jessica Porvasnik (69) were five strokes back at 9 under.
Hannah Green, the 2023 and 2024 winner at Wilshire Country Club, was 8 under after a 69. The Australian has three worldwide wins this year — the HSBC Women’s World Championship on the LPGA Tour along with the Women’s Australian Open and Australian WPGA.
The tournament is being played at El Caballero for the second straight year because of course renovations at Wilshire.
Defending champion Ingrid Lindblad was 3 under after a 72.
Lauren Coughlin, the winner two weeks ago at Shadow Creek, followed her opening 66 with a 76 to fall to 2 under. She had six bogeys Friday.
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Amateurs Asterisk Talley and Aphrodite Deng were 4 under. The 17-year-old Talley, playing her first event since losing the lead on the back nine in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, had her second straight 70. Deng, from Canada, shot 72.
Hyo Joo Kim withdrew before the round after opening with a 68. She leads the tour this year with two victories, winning in consecutive weeks in the Bay Area and Arizona.
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