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Kim leads birdie charge as Wie waits in the wings

Korean storms out of the gate to post seven-under 65 and take two-stroke lead from American on Day 2 of the Dubai Ladies Masters

  • By Duane Fonseca, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 December 11, 2009
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Francois Nel/Gulf News
  • In Kyung Kim in action during Day 2 of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters held at the Emirates Golf Club. The Korean currently tops the leaderboard.

Dubai: In Kyung Kim made a superb charge to the top of the Dubai Ladies Masters leaderboard Thursday with a seven-under 65, but American sensation Michelle Wie, a crowd favourite here, is very much in contention in second, two strokes adrift.

Kim, who started from the 10th tee on a two-under 70, went flying out of the gates with a birdie on her first hole.

She picked up two more shots on the par-four 12th and 16th holes and added another four birdies — 2nd, 5th, 7th and 8th — to her total after the turn to sign a seven-under 65 card for a nine-under 135 Round Two score.

"I am very happy with my round. I had some chances on the 9th and would have had a couple more birdies, which would have taken me lower. I think I hit it a little bit too close, the little putts were hard to read, they weren't easy. But I'm very happy that I finished strong in the end," said Kim, who has moved out of the Top 10 in the women's world rankings, but is No 8 on the LPGA Money List.

Swedish legend

This is Kim's first Ladies Masters outing and she has linked up with Annika Sorenstam's former caddie Terry McNamara, who has won here twice before caddying for the Swedish legend. Kim says McNamara's in depth knowledge of the course is working well for her.

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"I like the golf course and the conditions were just perfect. The course has some good holes, I had been watching the course on TV during the Dubai Desert Classic, the men's tournament, so it's cool to come here and play.

"Terry's a great caddie and I'm glad that we are working out well on and off the course. I'm very pleased with him; he did a great job. I think he's using a little different yardage [this time] because Annika hits it further than I do. But he won here twice and I think I have the right caddie."

Wie started with a bang, birdieing her the first three holes, but a loose shot on the par-four sixth ended with her dropping a shot.

She went par until the turn and picked two more shots on the 10th and 12th, before bad luck revisited her on the 13th. Wie reversed the result with a birdie on the 14th, and could have picked up another shot on the par-three 15th but her second shot stopped at the lip of the cup.

Three more pars and she was home in four-under 68, which gave her a seven-under 137 total. "I want to hit fairways, make some putts — just keep making some birdies. I made two stupid bogeys [yesterday] and will try not to do that the next couple of days.

"I feel like I'm playing pretty consistent golf here, I want to make a lot more birdies and keep playing better every day."

One stroke behind Wie, on tied third, are Korea's Amy Yang and Spain's Tania Elosegui, who are six-under at 138.

Yang scripted a two-under-70, while Elosegui carded a six-under 66, which was punctuated with six birdies, an eagle and a bogey. Catriona Matthew, Julieta Granada, Titiya Plucksataporn and Round One leader Maria Hjorth are tied-fifth, a further stroke back on five-under-139.

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