It’s Grace under par

Advice pays for rookie

GRACE Kim has never been shy to push senior pros for advice sto make the most of what is her obvious natural talent.

The 21-year-old rookie pro surprised even herself with a blistering seven-under start to her Australian Open in the calm morning conditions at Kingston Heath.

It continued a big 2022 for Kim, who won her first event as a pro on the secondary Epson Tour in the US, which helped her gain her LPGA Tour playing card for 2023.

She knows she’ll be mixing it with the best in the world every week next year and contesting her first Open as a pro was keen to show she belongs.

“I am a rookie, I’m still trying to learn my way through,” Kim said after taking the firstround lead. “I was talking to Marina Alex that I was playing with, she’s been on the LPGA for 10 years now she was saying, so things like that.

“She’s got all those years of experience over me. … I’m just going to try my best to catch up.”

Questioning her playing partner shouldn’t have come as a surprise according to fellow Aussie Hannah Green, who says Kim has tapped in to most of her fellow Aussies in the US, with many of them often using the Golf Australia share-house in Florida.

“She’s very friendly but she always asks questions about what would make her life easier,” Green said. “You may as well use the experience that I’ve had and all the other LPGA Tour girls have had. I’m hoping next year we can travel together.

“It will be fun to have her.” Kim became the first Australian since Green in 2017 to gain LPGA Tour status via the secondary tour and took a twoshot lead over her compatriot despite playing her first event since her career promotion in October. “I was definitely nervous at the start because I haven’t played a tournament in over a month now, since I’ve been back,” she said. “You’re at home, so expectations and pressures are pretty high. But I just tried to embrace it all and tried to enjoy it.”