Mindy Kim Leads Field Following First Round in Lake Geneva

LAKE GENEVA, Wis., May 30, 2008 – Just two weeks after her first professional victory, Mindy Kim of Diamond Bar, Calif., is leading the field again after posting a 4-under-par 68 to open the Aurora Health Care Championship on Friday. Coming off a title at the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship, Kim recorded three birdies on the front nine and added two more on the back. She leads by one shot over Jin Young Pak of Kang Leung, South Korea, Sarah-Jane Kenyon of Queensland, Australia, and Misun Cho of Cheongju, South Korea, who finished the day at 3-under-par 69.

“I just can’t get ahead of myself because I have to stay humble,” said Kim, 18, a second-year professional. “I still haven’t really soaked it in from my first win and there are still two rounds of golf yet to be played.”

Kim doesn’t have to be reminded about the last time she held a first-round lead, one that resulted in a wire-to-wire win. Kim said she made some tough putts with a little luck. Thinking about back-to-back victories hasn’t crossed her mind.

“Winning a tournament was a goal that I had set for this year, but there is a long way to go,” Kim said. “I felt more comfortable out there today and I didn’t have a case of the yips like my last round in Kansas.”

Pak, a 2007 non-exempt LPGA Tour member and 2005 winner on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, said she missed a couple of approach shots with her short irons but was pleased with a birdie on her final hole.

“I’ll always try my best and keep calm,” Pak said. “If I don’t rush my shots, then I think I will have a good chance to win.”

For Cho, it has been a struggle to close out her final round. She admitted she struggled to finish strong in Leawood, Kan., and McAllen, Texas. The former All-American at Pepperdine ended her day with two birdies in her last three holes and is determined to have a better outcome.

“I feel like I’m getting my game together, but I haven’t finished strong because I think it’s more mental,” Cho said. “I put too much pressure on myself. Sometimes it works positively for people, but for me it doesn’t.”

Hail and strong thunderstorms threatened the area from local forecasts, but storms coming from the south passed around the course. Gusting winds picked up mid-afternoon, but sunny skies prevailed as the afternoon wore on.

Whitney Wade of Glasgow, Ky., made three birdies in four holes on the back nine to finish her day at 2-under-par (70). Wade made a 20-foot birdie putt on 15 and followed with another birdie on 16 from 15 feet. She was playing with new TaylorMade r7 irons that helped her hit 14 greens. She also reverted back to her old putter and is tied for fifth.

“I haven’t done anything spectacular yet this year,” said Wade, who finished eighth at the El Paso Golf Classic. “I’m just looking to be more consistent and get that third under-par round together. The fairways were kind of wide today and I had to be just in the right spot.”

A non-exempt LPGA Tour member, Kenyon returned from a near two-month absence on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. The fourth-year pro and 2005 Duramed FUTURES Tour champion competed in the AMERICAN SYSTEMS Invitational in Daytona Beach, Fla., and tied for 17th. She had five birdies on the day and was able to get into an early rhythm by making two birdies in her first three holes.

“It’s tough to go back and forth [between the two tours] because it’s hard to know where I’ll be from week to week,” Kenyon said. “I’m happy with how today went and I thought I made good birdies on the harder holes.”

Rookie Pamela Feggans of Patna, Scotland, was looking to restore a long-lost relationship with her driver, hitting her 3-wood off most of the tees on Friday. Feggans was joined at 1-under-par by Gerina Mendoza of Roswell, N.M., Briana Vega of Andover, Mass., and Y.J. Jin of Seoul, South Korea.

“My driver and I haven’t been getting along lately,” said Feggans, who finished seventh at the Louisiana Pelican Classic. “I thought I attacked the course pretty well today and put down a solid round.”

Second-round play continues Saturday morning at 7:50 a.m. off the first and 10th tees. The leaders tee off at 2:20 p.m.

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Weather: Partly sunny with a high of 77 degrees and winds blowing SW at 20-30 mph.

All-Americans Sara Brown, Hannah Yun Make Tour Debuts

Two former collegiate phenoms representing a new infusion of youth on the Duramed FUTURES Tour made their debuts on Friday. Sara Brown of Tucson, Ariz., and Hannah Yun of Bradenton, Fla., both teed it up in the first round of this week’s Aurora Health Care Championship.

Brown, who finished runner-up to Vicky Hurst of Melbourne, Fla., at the 2007 Duramed FUTURES Tour Qualifying Tournament last November, enjoyed a decorated career in East Lansing, Mich., that included All-American honorable mention honors as a senior. She joins the long lineage of Spartans representing the Duramed FUTURES Tour that include Sarah (Martin) Olsen of Grosse Ile, Mich., Mandi McConnell of Grand Blanc, Mich., and current LPGA Tour pros Allison Fouch of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Emily Bastel of Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

Even though Brown was upset with her round of 79, she realized it’s the beginning of a new chapter in her career. She has been able to unite with a good friend and “elder” on the Tour, rookie Jenny Suh of Fairfax, Va. The two met and were paired together in Westfield, Ohio, during their junior golf playing days.

“I was nervous starting out today, but then I was walking down the eighth hole with a smile,” Brown said. “It just hit me. Other than two holes, I thought I played well.”

Yun was known as the youngest player in NCAA women’s collegiate golf in January, joining the Florida Gators at the tender age of 15. In just one semester at the University of Florida, Yun garnered honorable mention All-American accolades in addition to being selected to the All-SEC Freshman team and being named first-team All-SEC. She helped the Gators win back-to-back-to-back titles in the spring that included the Bryan National Collegiate trophy, an SEC crown and the top prize at the NCAA East Regional in Athens, Ga.

“I’m just looking to get some experience and not worry about results,” Yun said. “At the end of the day though, I’m still just playing golf. It will be great to get my foot down and keep moving on.”

She finished second in the SEC Championship to Stacy Lewis of Arkansas and announced she would be leaving the Gators after the NCAA Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. Yun has enrolled at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where she will be pursuing a career in illustration and animation with her first class beginning next month.

She is the only player in the Aurora Health Care Championship field that participated at the NCAA Championships last week.

Wisconsin Badgers Prowl the Field in Lake Geneva Qualifier 

Fifty-degree weather and gusty winds didn’t prevent Wisconsin locals Molly Schemm of Fort Atkinson and Kelsey Verbeten of Green Bay from grabbing the final two spots in the field for the Aurora Health Care Championship through a 13-player qualifier on Tuesday morning. Schemm woke up with the sun on Friday for a 7:50 a.m. tee time while Verbeten played the waiting game, hitting her first shot at 2:20 p.m. in the final group off the 10th tee.

“She was snoring this morning when I left the house,” Schemm said.

Schemm was coming off a runner-up finish at the 2008 Missouri Valley Conference Championship with the University of Northern Iowa and will be transferring to the University of Wisconsin. She will be able to contend for immediate playing time after being granted a waiver by the NCAA.

“I’ve always wanted to play there because it’s close to home,” said Schemm of her plans to transfer to Wisconsin. “I just want to shoot a good score this weekend in the 70’s,” she added.

Schemm did just that on Friday, firing a first-round total 74 (+2). She had a 10-foot birdie putt lip out on her final hole and is in a tie for 37th heading into Saturday.

Verbeten, a two-year starter for the Lady Badgers, also just completed her sophomore year. She opened her first round by making birdie on her first two holes.

“It was cold and windy and play went a little longer,” Verbeten said of Tuesday’s qualifier. “This weekend will be a really good test of how we measure up. I’m just looking to put together two good rounds.

The soon-to-be teammates ousted Big Ten Conference counterpart Seul-Ki Park of Northbrook, Ill., after all three shot the low round of 81 to set up the playoff. Park recently completed her career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a second-team All-Big Ten selection.

The qualifier included another Wisconsin Badger, Carly Werwie from Kenosha and Brittany Atterbury of Rockton, Ill., a freshman at Iowa State University.

Bragging Rights to Southern Cal’s Braga and Dergal Following NCAA Championships

Following a tumultuous four-day NCAA Women’s Golf Championships that included six weather delays, hail and 40-mph winds that bent flagsticks, the University of Southern California and two proud alums can officially claim bragging rights on the Duramed FUTURES Tour.

The Trojans defeated rival UCLA by six strokes at last week’s national tournament. USC’s alums on the Duramed FUTURES Tour are Tanya Dergal of Durango, Mexico, and Alexandra Braga of Los Angeles.

Dergal won a national title with USC in 2003, as a freshman on the Kampen Course, home turf of Purdue University and the site of the men’s 2008 NCAA Championships. Braga graduated in 2006, and both are pulling for the Trojan sweep as the USC’s men’s team is a favorite to walk away with a win in West Lafayette, Ind., this week.

Dergal felt a little outnumbered by several UCLA Bruins she was going to see in Lake Geneva, but said she was going to enjoy her school’s new success.

“I’m going to have to give them a hard time when I see them,” said Dergal of former UCLA alums Mo Martin of Altadena, Calif., Gina Umeck of Redlands, Calif., and Bridget Dwyer of Kailua, Hawaii.

Contact: Ben Schlesselman, 386-274-6228, Ben@duramedfuturestour.com.