Auston Kim, the 24-year-old American who finished sixth in the 2024 Rookie of the Year race, has put herself into contention at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Kim came into the day nine strokes back after a pretty average opening round -1, but exploded in the second round with eight birdies, five of which came on the back nine.
Kim wasn’t particularly accurate off the tee, hitting nine fairways, but she is one of the longest hitters on tour, and she showed that off averaging 281 yards off the tee. Her putting improved Friday as well, going from 29 to 25. She hit just 12 greens in the first, but improved in round two with 14.
In 2024 Kim made 20/27 cuts and had three top-10 finishes. While she is still looking for her first LPGA Tour victory, Kim was one of the more exciting young stars mostly because of her huge distance off the tee, which ranked in the top 10 on tour. Kim is certainly a name to keep an eye on for the 2026 Solheim Cup team.
Currently, she still has a lot of work to do, sitting seven strokes back of Akie Iwai, but if she performs like she did in the second round, that gap could close rapidly.
