NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Hyo Joo Kim is right back at it at the Aramco Championship in North Las Vegas, Nev., after a pair of stellar showings in Menlo Park, Calif. and Chandler, Ariz. over the past couple of weeks.

The Republic of Korea native has won each of the previous two tournaments on the LPGA Tour, holding off former Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda both times. She beat the American by one shot at the Fortinet Founders Cup at Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club to collect her eighth career LPGA Tour victory and first since the 2025 Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass.

Kim then successfully defended her title at Whirlwind Golf Club last week, winning by two strokes over Korda to tally her second consecutive win, a performance that has propelled her to No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings, the highest ranking of her storied career.

And now, after round one of the Aramco Championship, Kim is once again lurking near the top of the leaderboard, currently sitting one shot back of a trio of 18-hole co-leaders that includes LPGA Tour winners Lauren Coughlin, Nasa Hataoka and Miyu Yamashita.

The major champion opened with a 4-under 68 on Thursday at Shadow Creek, carding one bogey and five birdies at the firm, fast, undulating venue, something that felt like just a continuation of the tear on which she has been as of late.

Kim got off to a sluggish start with a bogey on 10, but she recovered with a pair of back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 12 to quickly get herself into red numbers. The 30-year-old then made five pars before landing her next blow on the par-5 18th, picking up her third birdie of the round to turn in 34 at 2-under total.

The front nine saw Kim collect two birdies in a three-hole stretch on the par-4 third and par-3 fifth holes to move to 4-under, and that’s where she ultimately stayed, parring in to post her fifth consecutive round in the 60s, dating back to day one of the Ford Championship.

“I'm honestly not sure what went super well. This is probably the best I've played at this course, and so I think I'm just going with that good rhythm,” said Kim. “Coming into Vegas, people keep telling me to win three weeks in a row. I think I'll just try my best like usual. There is nothing else.”

The Aramco Championship marks Kim’s fifth start of the 2026 LPGA Tour season, and outside of her two victories, she has a solo third at the Honda LPGA Thailand and a tie for 21st at the HSBC Women’s World Championship on her resume so far this year. Her putting has been a big key to her success, evidenced by the fact that, ahead of this week, Kim was leading the Tour in putts made per green in regulation (1.65) and ranked fifth in both putts per round (27.88) and putts per hole (1.55).

Her performances with her flat stick have also been critical to her ability to score, as Kim was leading the LPGA in birdie percentage (31.25 percent), birdie or better percentage (32.99 percent) and birdie or better average per round (5.94) before teeing it up at Shadow Creek. She was additionally second in birdies (90) and tied for second in rounds in the 60s (11).

With 54 holes remaining, Kim will be looking to become the first player since Nelly Korda in 2024 to win in three consecutive starts on the LPGA Tour, something very few athletes before Korda have done since 1980. Kim hasn’t had much success at this property in the past, earning a tournament-best result of T17 in the 2025 edition of the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards in her four previous starts at Shadow Creek.

But if she’s able to muster up even just some of the excellent golf she has been playing in recent weeks, watch out for Hyo Joo Kim coming down the stretch at the Aramco Championship.

She just might hit the jackpot in Sin City.

Hyo Joo Kim Hoping to Hit Jackpot at Aramco Championship in Las Vegas

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