Kim leads State Farm LPGA Classic, but Wie is only four off the pace

7/18/2008

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Christina Kim shot a 9-under 63 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead at the State Farm Classic, a tournament she just missed winning last year.

Last year Kim birdied 18 to momentarily tie Sherri Steinhauer at 16 under, but the veteran Steinhauer matched Kim on the last hole to win.

Kim made her own magic Thursday with seven birdies, and eagle and no bogeys.

The field was stacked with low scores, including a 67 from Michelle Wie that was her best of the year for the part-time golfer and full-time Stanford student. Wie, playing on a sponsor's exemption, and most of the lowest-scoring golfers teed off early in the morning, before temperatures neared 90 degrees.

South Korean Sun Young Yoo, one of the few golfers to tee off at midday and keep her score down, finished a stroke behind Kim at 64 after shooting an 8-under 28 over the first nine holes.

She sank short putts for six birdies and added an eagle on the par-5 16th hole. The 28 ties her with seven other players for the best nine-hole score in LPGA history.

But Yoo's back nine included a pair of bogeys and, she said, fatigue and a loss of concentration.

Kristy McPherson and Jee Young Lee shot 65s and were tied for third.
Wie made eagle on the 15th hole and led for a time.

But the 18-year-old missed a handful of putts by inches, and had to fight back from a pair of mid-round bogeys, one of which included a shot into a water hazard and the other punctuated by a shot into a tree.

Her stop at the 18th hole summed up what might have been. After her near-perfect second shot dropped and died just a few feet beyond the cup, her putt rolled around the lip and refused to drop. Birdie became par and Wie fell back from the top of the pack.

German rookie Anja Monke briefly claimed a share of the lead with a 66.
The 31-year-old, a regular on the Ladies European Tour who had never played in the United States before Thursday, said that any other day she'd rather sleep in than tee off just before 7:30 a.m.

Leaderboard – Round 1:

1.  Christina Kim                    63 - 9
2.  Sun Young Yoo                 64 - 8
3.  Jee Young Lee                  65 - 7
     Kristy McPherson               65 - 7
5.  Sherri Turner                     66 - 6
     Ji Young Oh                      66 - 6
      Yani Tseng                      66 - 6
      Anja Monke                     66 - 6
      Audra Burks                     66 - 6
10. Wendy Doolan                  67 - 5
      Marisa Baena                   67 - 5
      Na Yeon Choi                   67 - 5
      Kris Tamulis                     67 - 5
      Ai Miyazato                      67 - 5
      Michelle Wie                     67 - 5

Source: AP, LPGA Tour