Grace Kim opened her week at The Standard Portland Classic with a hot start and enough birdies to overcome three bogeys, carding a 6-under 66 on Thursday to sit in a tie for second place, one shot behind early leader Mariel Galdiano, as the second wave continues play at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Starting her round on the back nine, Kim wasted no time finding her rhythm. She birdied the par-5 10th, the par-4 11th and the par-5 12th in succession to move to 3-under through three holes, setting the tone for the rest of the day. After a pair of pars, a bogey at the par-4 15th briefly slowed her progress, but Kim answered with a birdie at the par-4 17th and another at the par-4 18th to turn in 32.

The 25-year-old kept the momentum going on her closing nine. A birdie at the par-4 first pushed her to 5-under before a bogey at the par-4 third pulled her back to 4-under. Kim then found her best stretch of the round, making an eagle at the par-5 seventh to jump to 6-under, and following with a birdie at the par-3 eighth to reach 7-under before a bogey at the par-4 ninth closed out her card at 6-under 66.

Kim, an Epson Tour graduate with two LPGA Tour titles - including last year's Amundi Evian Championship - has a strong track record at Columbia Edgewater, finishing solo fifth at 18-under in 2025 and tied for ninth in 2024. If she can keep up this pace, Kim could be looking at her second top-10 finish of the season, adding to a tie for seventh at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give in a year that includes 10 cuts in 13 starts.

"I always enjoy coming back to Portland. Columbia Edgewater is obviously one of the nicest golf courses out here. The greens are rolling pure," Kim said. "Having that three-birdie start is just a nice feeling to kickstart things. Knowing that there is still heaps more to play, only round one, and another half of the field to go, yeah, just wanted to keep going."

Kim credited the course's true-rolling greens for the putts she converted throughout the round.

"A lot of us out here are pretty straight, fairways and greens," Kim said. "But in terms of holing all those putts -- knowing that the greens roll quite true and not as bumpy, it's really nice to just put a stroke on it and see where it would normally go."

With three rounds remaining and low scores expected to continue at Columbia Edgewater, Kim said she plans to stay aggressive without pressing.

"It's a birdiefest out here, so making sure I stay in the present, not get too greedy, and, yeah, just try and make heaps of birdies out there," Kim said.

Grace Kim Fires 6-Under 66 to Sit One Back Through First Round at The Standard Portland Classic

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