A Lim Kim Leads LOTTE Championship With Bogey-Free 65

• A Lim Kim shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-shot first-round lead at the LOTTE Championship.
• Ina Yoon and Yu Liu share second place after opening rounds of 66.
• Auston Kim eagled the 10th in a 67 to finish two shots behind the leader.

A Lim Kim opened her bid for a second LOTTE Championship title with a bogey-free seven-under 65 on Thursday, taking a one-shot lead at a rainy and breezy Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

The 2024 winner birdied three consecutive holes from the 15th before closing her morning round with a par at the par-5 18th. Her nearest challengers, fellow South Korean Ina Yoon and China’s Yu Liu, both shot 66 in the afternoon.

“Trajectory for control and then putting really important on this course because it is very windy,” Kim said. “And then today rain is back and forth, back and forth, so tough conditions. But it was really good play.”

Kim has three LPGA Tour victories, the 2020 US Women’s Open, the 2025 Tournament of Champions and the 2024 LOTTE Championship. She also finished runner-up to Jenny Shin at the Women’s Scottish Open in July.

Yoon and Liu Lead the Pursuit

Yoon briefly drew level with Kim at 7-under when she birdied the par-4 3rd, her 12th hole of the day. A bogey at the 6th cost her a share of the lead, and she parred her final three holes to finish 6-under.

Liu secured her place alongside Yoon with a closing birdie at the par-3 9th.

World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul headed a six-player group on 5-under alongside Polly Mack, Michelle Zhang, Auston Kim, Maja Stark and Chanettee Wannasaen.

“Annoying that we had rain, like two waits on rain,” Thitikul said after her morning round. “Especially we just had one before our last hole. But the good thing is it wasn’t taking that long.”

Hawaii native Allisen Corpuz opened with a 68. She is one of 11 players from the Solheim Cup competing this week.

Auston Kim Finds Her Scoring Stretch

The 26-year-old American had opened with five pars before back-to-back birdies at the 6th and 7th. A bogey at the par-3 12th checked her progress, but a birdie at the 16th restored her to 5-under, where she finished after two closing pars.

“Very quiet first six holes and very eventful middle six holes and then again very quiet last six holes,” she said. “I am very proud of the middle third of the round.”

The Epson Tour graduate is seeking her first LPGA Tour title and has five top-10 finishes in 16 starts this season, including second place at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. After representing the United States at the Solheim Cup, she tied for fifth in Arkansas before arriving in Hawaii, having earned an automatic place on Angela Stanford’s team.

“I’m a little tired but I love playing golf and I love competing,” Kim said. “I feel like I have a lot of good momentum on my side. Golf is really exciting right now, so I’m just trying to ride the wave as long as I can.”

Three rounds remain at Hoakalei before the LPGA Tour moves into a month of tournaments in Asia, beginning with the Buick LPGA Shanghai from October 15–18.

AUSTON KIM FOR EAGLE 🤩 🦅 pic.twitter.com/2Lm0KZB04r

— LPGA (@LPGA) October 2, 2026

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Jordan Smith’s closing albatross put him among nine players a shot behind, while the race to retain PGA Tour cards added weight to a low-scoring opener.

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