Epson Tour member Min-G Kim is making the most of the opportunity in her ninth career LPGA Tour start. The six-year veteran is having a career year on the “Road to the LPGA” with five top-25 finishes in nine starts, including a pair of top-10s and eight made cuts.
It seems that Kim brought that steady play to The Colony, Texas, for the Volunteers of America Classic. She carded seven birdies, including four straight from Nos. 5-8, for a 4-under 67 on Saturday at Old American Golf Club to reach -7 overall and join four other players in a tie for 11th.
“That [birdie run] was the major turning point of my round today,” Kim said after hitting 14 greens in regulation. “I was not making anything in my second round [late yesterday and] earlier today. After that first birdie, they kept coming.”
Earlier in the week, the 23-year-old discussed the impact of her recent conversation with World Golf Hall of Fame member Nancy Lopez and how it has strengthened her mentality. Kim met up with Lopez in late May at the Epson Tour’s Mission Inn Resort & Club Championship to ask a few questions and “learn a few things” by picking her mind.
“Nancy is a huge inspiration of mine,” said Kim, who has her dad, Jongmin Kim, on the bag. “She told me that every time she went to swing, her father would say, ‘You have a shot. Just try your best. Don’t care where the ball goes. Just focus shot by shot.’ I think that mindset really helped me a lot.
“I try to remind myself of that. Obviously, I get mad, I get nervous, but I try to replay her words in my head just to keep myself grounded and not let the nerves get the better of me. [Confidence] for sure.”
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