RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Seven years after missing a 1-foot putt on the final hole of regulation and losing a playoff, In-Kyung Kim was back on top Friday at the ANA Inspiration.
Kim shot a 7-under 65 in mostly calm morning conditions at Mission Hills to take a three-stroke lead into the weekend in the first major golf championship of the year. The 30-year-old South Korean had an 8-under 136 total.
Katherine Kirk was second, bogeying the final two holes in a 68.
First-round leader Ally McDonald followed her opening 68 in the wind Thursday afternoon with a 72 in the morning to remain at 4 under. Jin Young Ko also was 4 under after a 71 in the afternoon wind.
Lexi Thompson, the 2014 champion, was in a five-way tie for fifth at 3 under after a 72.
PGA: First-round leader Si Woo Kim used a late-round hole-in-one to build a four-shot lead at the halfway point of the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
Kim (66) aced TPC San Antonio’s 16th hole and is 12 under through 36 holes at the PGA Tour’s last stop before the Masters. He leads six players at 8 under, including Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. Fowler led on the back nine until consecutive bogeys late in the round.
Joining Fowler (68) and Spieth (68) are Harold Varner (66), Adam Schenk (66), Kyoung-Hoon Lee (67) and Monday-qualifier Corey Connors (67).
Kim’s ace at the 167-yard 16th bounced up toward the flag stick, landed next to the lip of the cup and dropped in. He’s gone 26 holes without a bogey and has nine birdies along with the ace.
Byeong Hun An (68), Matt Jones (68), Rory Sabbatini (68), Scott Stallings (69), Brian Stuard (70), Josh Teater (68) and Jim Knous (67) are 7 under.
Graeme McDowell, who won for the first time since 2015 last week at the PGA Tour’s event in the Dominican Republic, has shot consecutive 69s and is joined at 6 under by Scott Brown, Hank Lebioda, Ryan Moore and Jhonattan Vegas.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.