In a season defined by extreme highs and lows, Gina Kim has an opportunity to add another high point to her year when she tees it up come Sunday with a chance to chase down her second win of the season at the CPKC Women’s Open.

Kim got off to a blistering start on Saturday by making birdie on four of her first six holes including three consecutive birdies on holes Nos. 4-6. Kim made the turn in 31 and needed only 12 putts through her first ten holes. She made back-to-back birdies on the back side to keep the momentum rolling, but then her putter cooled as she was unable to convert long birdie efforts at Nos. 12, 15, 16 and 17 to close the gap on Miyu Yamashita who sits six strokes clear of the field.

“I'm not sure if it was really quite a momentum shift. I thought I gave myself plenty of chances. You know, putts just didn't fall,” Kim said about her back nine. But I thought I played really solid all day. Hopefully tomorrow it can be the same way.”

Kim earned her breakthrough victory in June alongside teammate Yana Wilson at the Dow Championship. The win ended a difficult stretch for Kim who had missed the cut in three prior starts to winning her maiden title. But that victory didn’t open the proverbial flood gates that are often expected to burst open with subsequent success. Instead, Kim missed the cut in her next six starts, and is playing the weekend in Canada for the first time since that win in June.

What’s behind Kim’s turnaround this week? Well, Kim doesn’t think it’s anything big, but credits a new swing feel she found while working with her coach on the range for improving her game along with a change in mindset. Those two changes propelled Kim to rounds of 66-67-64, which is the first time that Kim has posted three consecutive opening rounds in the 60s on the LPGA Tour.

“I’m a golf nut so I get really into the nitty gritty details, but I felt like I was getting a little flat in my swing so I was spinning out a little bit, so if you see in some of my practice swings I’ll do a little rehearsal where I'm trying to be a little more steep and compress it a little more,” Kim told Golf Channel after her round on Saturday. “That’s been helping a lot.”

And that change in mindset? Kim says she put way too much pressure on herself following her victory at the Dow Championship. While she’s relieved that she hasn’t had to worry about her LPGA Tour status with her card secure for two more years thanks to her victory, it really hasn’t freed her up to perform the way that she has wanted to until this week in Canada.

“Just knowing that I won this year and knowing that there is evidence that I do have what it takes to, you know, put a good result together even though I missed so many cuts, it's Dow that I look back on and, you know, remind myself what I can do and what I'm capable of doing,” Kim said Thursday about how she’s handled her up and down season. “I've just been kind of working on my process and just trying to get back to where I know I can be.”

And where Kim can be is the one hosting the trophy come Sunday. She’ll lean on that experience being in that position, relishing the opportunity to be in the hunt, to feel the adrenaline, and to experience the nerves. It’s all a part of what Kim relishes most about competing and it’s an opportunity she’ll get to enjoy again on Sunday as she looks to overcome Yamashita’s six-stroke lead and secure her second win of the season.

“It's something I'm not unfamiliar to, and the last time I got to be in that situation I had really great memories and ended up winning with my partner Yana at that time,” Kim said about her mindset heading into Sunday. “You know it's never over until it's really over ,so I'm just going to do exactly what I did today. Keep chasing and hopefully I can give myself a chance and hopefully the doors stays open long enough. Keep chasing and we’ll see how it shakes out in the end.”

Kim Looks to Chase Down Second Win of the Season on Sunday in Canada

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