Auston Kim opened the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei with a 5-under 67 on Thursday, moving into a tie for third at Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

The 26-year-old American, an Epson Tour graduate seeking her first LPGA Tour victory, sits two shots behind first-round leader A Lim Kim, who posted a 7-under 65 on the par-72 layout. Three rounds remain.

Kim began on the front nine and found little action early, making pars on her first five holes. Back-to-back birdies on the par-4 sixth and seventh holes moved her to 2-under, and pars on the eighth and ninth sent her to the turn in 2-under 34.

The highlight came right after the turn. Kim made eagle on the par-4 10th to jump to 4-under, then birdied the par-5 11th to reach 5-under. A bogey on the par-3 12th dropped her back to 4-under, but after three straight pars she birdied the par-4 16th to return to 5-under and held steady the rest of the way, closing with a 33 on the back nine. She finished with four birdies, an eagle and one bogey.

"Very quiet first six holes and very eventful middle six holes and then again very quiet last six holes," said Kim. "I am very proud of the middle third of the round."

Kim said the course felt unusual to play without its predominant wind, and she credited good positioning off the tee for setting up short clubs into the greens.

"It's not really a shootout, but there can be a lot of birdies out there, so just capitalizing as often as you can," she said.

Kim has five top-10 finishes in 16 starts this season and has made 11 cuts. Her best result was second at the HSBC Women's World Championship. She also has a tie for third at the Blue Bay LPGA, a tie for fifth at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, a ninth-place finish at The Amundi Evian Championship and a tie for fifth at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. She arrived in Hawaii after that T5 in Arkansas, which followed her appearance for the United States at the Solheim Cup.

With the Asia swing ahead, Kim acknowledged the busy stretch but said she is embracing it.

"I'm a little tired but I love playing golf and I love competing," she said. "I feel like I have a lot of good momentum on my side. Golf is really exciting right now, so I'm just trying to ride the wave as long as I can."

Auston Kim's Eagle Sparks 5-Under 67, Puts Her in the Hunt at LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei

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