01결정적 이글 한 방으로 분위기 반전… 상위권 도약 발판 마련
오스턴 킴이 미국여자프로골프(LPGA) 투어 롯데 챔피언십 프레젠티드 바이 호아칼레이에서 맹활약을 펼치며 우승 경쟁에 불을 지폈다.
오스턴 킴은 이번 대회 경기 중 결정적인 이글을 터뜨리며 상승세를 탔고, 5언더파 67타를 쳐내며 리더보드 상단에 이름을 올렸다.
이글을 기점으로 쾌조의 흐름을 탄 오스턴 킴은 치열한 선두권 다툼에 본격적으로 합류하며 남은 경기 활약을 예고했다.
02Original (English) — LPGA
Auston Kim of the United States and her caddie meet on the 11th tee during the first round of the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei 2026 at Hoakalei Country Club on October 01, 2026 in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
Megan McCrea is the Manager of Digital Operations. Megan is in her second year with the LPGA, working with the LPGA and Epson Tours to manage, develop, maintain, and update website content.
Auston Kim opened the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei with a 5-under 67 on Thursday, moving into a tie for third at Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
The 26-year-old American, an Epson Tour graduate seeking her first LPGA Tour victory, sits two shots behind first-round leader A Lim Kim, who posted a 7-under 65 on the par-72 layout. Three rounds remain.
Kim began on the front nine and found little action early, making pars on her first five holes. Back-to-back birdies on the par-4 sixth and seventh holes moved her to 2-under, and pars on the eighth and ninth sent her to the turn in 2-under 34.
The highlight came right after the turn. Kim made eagle on the par-4 10th to jump to 4-under, then birdied the par-5 11th to reach 5-under. A bogey on the par-3 12th dropped her back to 4-under, but after three straight pars she birdied the par-4 16th to return to 5-under and held steady the rest of the way, closing with a 33 on the back nine. She finished with four birdies, an eagle and one bogey.
"Very quiet first six holes and very eventful middle six holes and then again very quiet last six holes," said Kim. "I am very proud of the middle third of the round."
Kim said the course felt unusual to play without its predominant wind, and she credited good positioning off the tee for setting up short clubs into the greens.
"It's not really a shootout, but there can be a lot of birdies out there, so just capitalizing as often as you can," she said.
Kim has five top-10 finishes in 16 starts this season and has made 11 cuts. Her best result was second at the HSBC Women's World Championship. She also has a tie for third at the Blue Bay LPGA, a tie for fifth at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, a ninth-place finish at The Amundi Evian Championship and a tie for fifth at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. She arrived in Hawaii after that T5 in Arkansas, which followed her appearance for the United States at the Solheim Cup.
With the Asia swing ahead, Kim acknowledged the busy stretch but said she is embracing it.
"I'm a little tired but I love playing golf and I love competing," she 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."