Major champion A Lim Kim recorded the second hole-in-one of her LPGA Tour career on Friday during the third round of the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei.

The Republic of Korea native aced the par-3 9th hole at Hoakalei Country Club, holing her tee shot from 140 yards with her 9-iron. It’s the first hole-in-one that Kim has carded on the LPGA Tour since she made an ace during the third round of the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship on the par-3 13th hole at The Saticoy Club from 162 yards with her 7-iron.

Kim’s hole-in-one is the second of the week at the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei, as Jennifer Song also made an ace during the first round of the event on the par-3 15th hole.

On Kim’s behalf, CME Group will make a $20,000 donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of their CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude campaign. The Challenge is a season-long giving program that turns aces into donations for St. Jude’s and childhood cancer treatment and research. The 2024 donation has now reached $560,000, with a total of 28 holes-in-one made throughout the season.

Kim’s hole-in-one ultimately helped her post a 5-under 67 on day three of the LOTTE Championship to move to 14-under overall, putting her at the top of the leaderboard with 18 holes to play in Hawaii, currently just one shot ahead of Epson Tour winner Nataliya Guseva. Kim will be looking to collect her first win as an LPGA Tour member on Saturday, as she first joined the Tour in 2021 after accepting automatic membership following her non-member major victory at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open in Houston, Texas, the last regular-season event on that year’s schedule.

She will also be looking to climb the Race to the CME Globe point standings, as Kim was sitting at 65th in the season-long points competition ahead of this week at Hoakalei Country Club, five spots away from qualifying for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, which will see a record-breaking $4 million first-place prize go to the winner of the event for the very first time.

Much could change with 18 holes to play at the LOTTE Championship, but Kim is currently projected to vault up the rankings and move well inside the top-60 cutoff of athletes who will compete at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Fla., in just a couple of weeks. Kim has not missed a CME Group Tour Championship since becoming an LPGA Tour member in 2021 and will be working to continue her streak as she finishes up in Hawaii and sets her sights on The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican next week.

A Lim Kim Makes Second Ace of LPGA Career in Third Round of LOTTE Championship

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