Hilo's Kim moves on in match play

The last Hawaii player in the field will take on the tournament's top seed in the quarterfinals

Having cruised into the late rounds of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, Hilo's Kimberly Kim will have to get past the tournament's top seed today to keep her run alive.

Kim, the last Hawaii player left in the field, faces co-medalist Mina Harigae of Monterey, Calif., in a quarterfinal match at 4 a.m. Hawaii time at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo, Colo. The morning-round winners advance to the semifinals this afternoon. The tournament concludes tomorrow with the 36-hole championship match.

Kim, the 24th seed after stroke play, won twice yesterday to make the final eight in the match-play portion of the event. She defeated Kelly Schaub of Greeley, Colo., 4 and 3 in the round of 32. She came back in the afternoon to upset No. 8 Glory Joo Young Yang of Murrieta, Calif., 4 and 3 in the round of 16.

Stephanie Kono of Honolulu defeated Karla Murra of Sioux Falls, S.D., 4 and 3 in her opening match yesterday, but was eliminated in the round of 16 with a 3-and-1 loss to Maria Jose Uribe of Colombia.

Mari Chun of Pearl City lost to Harigae 7 and 6 yesterday morning, while Amanda Wilson of Hilo fell to Ashley Sholer of Canada 3 and 1.

Kim, 14, never trailed in her match with Yang, taking the lead with birdies on the par-4 third hole and the par-5 fifth. Yang closed to 1 up after Kim bogeyed No. 11, but gave it back with a bogey of her own the next hole. Kim then pulled away with back-to-back birdies and ended the match with a par at No. 15.

According to a story on uswapl.org, Kim's mallet-style putter was reviewed after the match to make sure it conformed to the Rules of Golf.

"It was like 10 minutes of pain in my little life," Kim said on the Web site. "I've never been almost DQ'd ever. I almost had a heart attack."

Kono and Uribe were all square through 12 holes of their seesaw third-round match before Uribe caught fire down the stretch. Kono birdied Nos. 2 and 8 to briefly hold the lead. Uribe then went ahead for good by holing a bunker shot for an eagle at No. 13. She then birdied No. 15 to go 2 up and carded another birdie at the par-3 17th to close the match.

"I knew it was going to be tough because she is a really good player," Uribe said on the Web site. "She started really good and I was just staying in there until ... I made the bunker shot."

Kono's next stop will be the U.S. Women's Open, which opens Thursday in Newport, R.I. Kim, Michelle Wie and Ayaka Kaneko are also entered in the field.

After routing Chun in the second round, the 16-year-old Harigae beat Morgan Grantham of Kingman, Ariz., 5 and 4 in the third round.

"I started getting tired in the second match," Harigae said. "I just kept drinking water. The second match I wasn't hitting fairways, so it was hard for me to get it close. I was swinging conservatively. I was just trying to make pars."

Co-medalist Hannah Jun of UCLA was eliminated in the second round, losing a 19-hole decision to Michigan State's Sara Brown.

In today's other quarterfinal matches, Ya-Ni Tseng of Taiwan will play Tiffany Chudy of Miramar, Fla., Brown will meet Angela Oh of Maple Shade, N.J., and Tiffany Joh of San Diego will face Uribe.

U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship

Match play

Round of 32, par-72

Upper Bracket

Mina Harigae, Monterey, Calif. (137), def. Mari Chun, Pearl City, Hawaii (150), 7 and 6.

Morgan Grantham, Kingman, Ariz. (152), def. Jessica Steward, Wake Forest, N.C. (146), 2 and 1.

Glory Joo Young Yang, Murrieta, Calif. (142), def. Laura Cross, Midlothian, Texas (151), 2 up.

Kimberly Kim, Hilo, Hawaii (149), def. Kelly Schaub, Greeley, Colo. (143), 4 and 3.

Jenna Pearson, Wheaton, Ill. (139), def. Veronica Valerio, Temecula, Calif. (150), 3 and 1.

Ya-Ni Tseng, Taiwan (145), def. Lauren Hunt, Little River, S.C. (152), 3 and 2.

Tiffany Chudy, Miramar, Fla. (151), def. Allison Goodman, San Diego (141), 1 up.

Ashley Sholer, Canada (144), def. Amanda Wilson, Hilo, Hawaii (152), 3 and 1.

Lower Bracket

Sara Brown, Tucson, Ariz. (150), def. Hannah Jun, San Diego (137), 19 holes.

Kyu Ri Ban, South Korea (153), def. Allison Stewart, Vermillion, S.D. (147), 4 and 2.

Angela Oh, Maple Shade, N.J. (142), def. Kelley Louth, Victoria, Texas (151), 5 and 4.

Selanee Henderson, Apple Valley, Calif. (143), def. Diane Kwon, Fremont, Calif. (151), 6 and 5.

Tiffany Joh, San Diego (138), def. Amanda Costner, Claremore, Okla. (150), 5 and 4.

Juli Wightman, Chicopee, Mass. (147), def. Lala Anai, Belmont, Mass. (153), 1 up.

Stephanie Kono, Honolulu (141), def. Karla Murra, Sioux Falls, S.D. (149), 4 and 3.

Maria Jose Uribe, Colombia (144), def. Nara Shin, Chula Vista, Calif. (152), 2 and 1.

Round of 16

Upper Bracket

Harigae def. Grantham, 5 and 4.

Kim def. Yang, 4 and 3.

Tseng def. Pearson, 4 and 3.

Chudy def. Sholer, 1 up.

Lower Bracket

Brown def. Ban, 2 and 1.

Oh def. Henderson, 20 holes.

Joh def. Wightman, 5 and 4.

Uribe def. Kono, 3 and 1.