Aussie Grace Kim in the mix at LPGA’s Portland Classic

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Aussie Grace Kim in the mix at LPGA’s Portland Classic

A back-nine birdie blitz has vaulted Grace Kim into contention at the LPGA Tour’s Portland Classic.

As fellow Australians Minjee Lee and Hannah Green prepare to hit the fairways at the Paris Olympics, Kim set about striking some gold of her own with a sizzling six-under-par start in Oregon.

After turning at one under, Kim caught ***** with six birdies coming home to finish three shots behind ******* first-round pacesetter Polly Mack.

Mack piled up seven birdies and an eagle at Columbia Edgewater Country Club to race to nine under with a career-best round.

The 25-year-old holds a one-shot lead over Samantha Wagner, Russia’s Nataliya Guseva and South Korea’s Hyo Joon Jang. Emma Talley and Ecuador’s Daniela Darquea.

Mack was having a difficult sophomore LPGA season leading up to Thursday. She had made just three of 13 cuts, missing six in a row before making the weekend at last week’s CPKC Women’s Open.

But her best finish of 2024 ******** a tie for 21st.

“It feels so good. Feels like I’ve been working for almost years for this kind of stuff to happen,” Mack said.

“Just finally to see a result on the scorecard, not just in the game, on the course, but also seeing it written down is really, really nice. I’m sure my team behind me is as happy as I am right now with this one round.”

Mack is ranked No.419 in the world, while one player right behind her, Wagner, is even further back at 513th in the world rankings.

Wagner had to play the Monday qualifier to secure her first start on tour this season.

“It’s kind of tough for me because I lost my status after last season and felt like I had a pretty solid year,” Wagner said.

“Just been working really hard with my team in the offseason and on (the Epson Tour) this year and haven’t quite seen the results I want.

“But I know the game is there and I was happy to see it all come together today.”

Lauren Coughlin, fresh off her first LPGA title at last week’s ********* Women’s Open in Calgary, opened with a 66 like Kim to be tied for seventh.

With AAP

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