South Korea’s Kim A-lim still on top at HSBC Women’s World Championship
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South Korea's Kim A-lim shoots a three-under 69 on the second day of the HSBC Women's World Championship.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
SINGAPORE – With the winds dying down at the Sentosa Golf Club, the chase for top spot at the HSBC Women’s World Championship came to life in the second round on Feb 28.
Day one of action at the Tanjong Course was hit by swirling winds, and a calmer second day gave the players a chance to play catch-up.
But first-round pacesetter Kim A-lim fought off stiff competition to remain the sole leader after shooting a three-under 69 for a seven-under 137 total and a one-stroke lead.
If her record is anything to go by, Kim has put herself in a good position to win her fourth LPGA title.
The past three times she led after the second round, she won twice – at the 2024 Lotte Championship and 2025 Tournament of Champions, while finishing tied-fourth at the Chevron Championship in 2023.
But the South Korean world No. 34 paid little attention to the leaderboard, saying: “I always talk about that and the result is not my goal. I just keep working on my process.
“It has always been the same thing (keeping this mindset). I already know what’s within my control, so I just trust myself and hit the ball.”
On Feb 28, the 2020 US Open champion mixed five birdies, including back-to-backs at No. 9 and 10, with two bogeys. She came close to a hole-in-one at the 178-yard, par-three No. 4.
The 29-year-old said: “My shots and putting were still good today, but still the green reading was hard for me.”
Hot on her heels was New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who is chasing her first win in Singapore in her 11th appearance at the tournament.
After a 71 in the first round, the world No. 3 enjoyed a bogey-free 67, which featured five birdies and saw her move up from tied-seventh to second.
The conditions were easier to manage, said Ko, even though she felt that she had played well in the first round.
“The wind was a little bit calmer today – you need to take advantage of those kind of situations. Not a lot went wrong, and I just kept giving myself a lot of good looks,” said Ko, who made 16 greens in regulation as compared to 10 the day before.
New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko, 27, in action on the second day of the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Tanjong Golf Course on Feb 27.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
“The real key to me for playing well is hitting a lot of greens, and I was able to do that a lot better today versus yesterday. That was probably like the biggest difference in the score.”
A different outlook has also helped the 22-time LPGA Tour winner’s performance. While she remains competitive and wants to win, Ko, 27, said there is more room to explore different things in her game.
She said: “I’m definitely having more fun... I feel like I’m in a position where I can go for things and try new things and obviously not veer off what was good from last year.
“I still have goals, and while I’m still playing, I want to play the best golf I can and contend as much as I can. There’s no better feeling than being the person that’s hoisting the trophy at the end of Sunday.”
While she had an impressive second day, the lowest rounds of the day went to South Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo and Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn, who both shot 66s.
Kim Hyo-joo was joint-third on 139 with England’s Charley Hull (70), while Pajaree was one stroke behind on joint-fifth.
Like Pajaree, four others were also within three shots of the top – Americans Sarah Schmelzel (67) and Yealimi Noh (68), Japan’s Ayaka Furue (69) and China’s Yin Ruoning (70).
Pajaree is hoping to carry her form into the weekend, saying: “I want to try to keep this momentum... I will continue to make some more putts and give myself good opportunities for approach shots and a lot of opportunities out there.”
Singapore’s Shannon Tan posted a 72 and was joint-28th at 145, while the Republic’s other representative Chen Xingtong (78) was 66th at 157. Defending champion Hannah Green, who signed for a 144 after carding a 69, is joint-23rd.
Tee times, round 3 (Selected)
Hole 1
8.18am Jeeno Thitikul (Tha)
8.30am Ko Jin-young (Kor)
8.42am Amy Yang (Kor), Minjee Lee (Aus)
9.06am Yin Ruoning (Chn)
9.18am Charley Hull (Eng)
9.30am Kim A-lim (Kor), Lydia Ko (Nzl), Kim Hyo-joo (Kor)
Hole 10
7.35am Shannon Tan (Sgp)
9.35am Chen Xingtong (Sgp)
Kimberly Kwek joined The Straits Times in 2019 as a sports journalist and has since covered a wide array of sports, including golf and sailing.
