StarBulletin.com

Kim falls 7 and 6 in Publinx final


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POSTED: Sunday, June 28, 2009

Her name is now in the record book ... but not in the way Kimberly Kim had hoped.

The 17-year-old former Big Island resident lost to Jennifer Song in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links final yesterday in Devens, Mass., 7 and 6, the largest margin of defeat in the 33-year history of the tournament.

“;I was telling my caddie's dad that (Song) was playing robotic,”; said Kim, the 2006 U.S. Women's Amateur champion. “;He didn't watch my (morning 18). I was like, 'Do you feel my pain now?'

“;I really tried hard to focus on my game, because she was having such a hot day.”;

Kim, an incoming freshman at the University of Denver, was runner-up to Tiffany Joh in the 2006 Public Links final. That same year, Kim became the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur at 14.

In that final match, Kim was five holes down after the morning 18 to Katharina Schallenberg, the same margin by which she was down yesterday after 18 holes. But this time, Kim could not rally, unable to make a dent in Song's lead when the two halved the first four holes of the afternoon round.

Song, an incoming junior at USC, captured the par-3 25th hole at Red Tail Golf Club with a birdie to go 6 up. Kim birdied the 24th to again be five down, but Song birdied the next two par-4 holes to go 7 up. The match ended on the 30th green after Song holed a 3-foot par putt.

This was not the first meeting between the two. Two years ago, Kim posted a 21-hole win in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Women's Amateur.

Kim next competes in the U.S. Women's Open, July 9-12, then the U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Amateur before heading to college.