ASSOCIATED PRESS Kimberly Kim is trying to become the third Hawaii golfer to win the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.

Kim reaches final

She takes out the co-medalist and defending tournament champion in successive matches

PUEBLO, Colo. » Kimberly Kim was a birdie machine in the morning and played steady in the afternoon yesterday to win two matches and advance to the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship today.

The 14-year-old Kim, whose family recently moved from Hilo to the Phoenix area to facilitate travel to golf tournaments, meets California's Tiffany Joh today in a 36-hole title match at the 6,263-yard, par-72 Walking Stick Golf Course.

Kim, who has qualified to play in next week's U.S. Women's Open at Newport, R.I., defeated 2005 Women's Public Links champ Tiffany Chudy, of Miramar, Fla., 4 and 3 in the semifinals. She eliminated 16-year-old co-medalist Mina Harigae, of Monterey, Calif., in the morning quarterfinals 9 and 7.

In the quarterfinal, Kim made birdies on four of her first five holes -- six overall -- and one-putted eight times to tie the championship record for the largest margin of victory in an 18-hole match.

"I wish I could have finished (the last seven holes) to see how low I could go," Kim said. "That's just amazing for me. I couldn't believe I was putting and hitting it that well."

Joh, an All-American at UCLA as a freshman this season, did not make quite as many birdies, but was equally efficient in eliminating 20-year-old Sara Brown of Tucson, Ariz., in the semifinals 3 and 2, and 16-year-old Maria Jose Uribe of Colombia, 3 and 2.

"I kind of feel like hiding in a truck and getting a paper bag and just breathing really deeply," said Joh about playing Kim in the final. "Just getting to "I kind of feel like hiding in a truck and getting a paper bag and just breathing really deeply," said Joh about playing Kim in the final. "Just getting to the finals is a really big accomplishment for me."

By reaching the final, Joh and Kim are now exempt into the 2006 U.S. Women's Amateur and receive an exemption from local qualifying for the 2007 U.S. Women's Open.

The champion gets a 10-year exemption to the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, plus an exemption into the 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur.

Troublesome winds, which gusted as high as 48 mph, delayed the start of play in the morning by 1 hour, 50 minutes. Conditions on the links-style course resembled a British Open, but by noon, the sun was out and the winds had died down to just a slight breeze.

While Kim didn't post as many birdies in her match with Chudy, she was steady, winning four of the first five holes.

Joh built an early 2-up lead on Brown through six holes, making a 25-footer at the par-3 sixth to take the two-hole advantage.

Brown got one back at the par-3 12th when she made a 6-footer for birdie, but at the par-5 13th, her 5-iron second shot bounced onto the green and then rolled over the back edge into a water hazard.

She eventually conceded Joh's eagle putt, then lost 15 to another bogey when her second shot to the par 5 found the hazard in front of the green.

Kim is trying to become the third golfer from Hawaii to win the event. Lori Planos (then known as Lori Castillo) won it in 1979 and 1980, and Michelle Wie won the championship in 2003.

Wie, then 13, is the event's youngest winner. Kim would become the second-youngest with a victory today.