Talented Australian golfer Grace Kim says her first full-time year on the LPGA Tour will be just reward for the hard work she has put into her young career.
Key points:
- Kim graduated to the LPGA ranks following her rookie season on the US futures tour
- She won a tournament in Florida and achieved five top-10 finishes in 2022
- The 22-year-old says she is up for the challenge of the LPGA Tour
Kim spent only one season on the secondary futures tour in the United States last year, before earning her LPGA card for 2023.
She finished fifth on the money list, becoming the first Australian since major winner Hannah Green — in 2017 — to graduate from the tour’s ranks to the LPGA.
Kim won an event in Longwood, Florida last May, among five top-10 finishes she posted in her rookie season.
The 22-year-old, who enjoyed an outstanding amateur career in Australia, said playing the futures tour was challenging.
“It was a whole year of grinding mentally and physically,” Kim told ABC Sport.
“But it definitely paid off.”
Kim said she was not placing much expectation on herself ahead of embarking on the LPGA Tour.
“I’m really trying to remind myself to live out every day as it is, each day to its own,” she said.
“Obviously now that I’m playing in the big league, I’m just going to thoroughly enjoy each day, whether they are bad days or good days.”
Kim will contest the dual-gender Vic Open in Barwon Heads next month.