2024 Lotte Championship, Round 4 | LPGA Tour Highlights | Golf Channel

It's another day in paradise on the LPGA Tour. We're on this Championship Saturday. A major champion and a couple of rookies are vying for a coveted title at Hawaka Lake Country Club. Grant Boone and Karen Stubbles watching some of the action in the final pair. It's the Russian rookie Natalia Guseva to tie the lead. Yeah, no sign of nerves on this first hole as she rolls in that birdie nicely. Is she playing with Alim Kim, the U.S. Open champ from 2020? But it's another rookie like Guseva. Austin Kim from Florida played at Vanderbilt. What a start for her. Well, it really was. Had to hit that quite firmly. Struggled with her putting yesterday, but showing good signs in the early going today. Her fourth birdie in six holes takes her to 14 under. Here's Kim, third shot par by fifth. And really not that easy to judge that. Ball was below the surface of the green, but got plenty of spin on it. That would lead to a birdie. Guseva trying to keep pace for birdie of her own. Has putted really well all week and continue in that same form. So both 15 under with Austin Kim at minus 14. Then just moments ago at the par for sixth, Kim second. And you thought this would be a little bit more difficult. Ball way below her feet from the rough. But wow, able to get that to spin and controlled that beautifully. Trying to win for the first time as an LPGA member. She wasn't even on the LPGA tour when she won the U.S. Open in December of 2020 in Houston. Now it's Kim up by one. Guseva just a shot back. Austin Kim has picked up four shots in her first eight. Is it too late maybe for one of these others chasing to catch the leaders? It's the final round in Hawaii. Up ahead at the 10th, Nasa Hataoka. You see she's four back. Hmm. Would you believe three back? At least at the moment. Whole different personality to this whole today. The wind has increased again. Oh, this is a pole with a draw. There's a slope over there. This needs some luck. Oh, boy. The penalty area comes in, comes in tight, and there's some some, you know, weeds and inconsistent grasses over there. Yeah, I think she was fairly relieved to see the ball on a relatively flat lie. Grass is a little inconsistent. Man, just got too much ball there. That was always going to be a tough shot downwind, hitting up to an elevated green. Elim Kim at the ninth. Kind of back into a quartering wind that's hurting. Well, she had the line for sure. Just obviously lacked the speed, but that will ensure a par most likely. Yeah, she got a good read off of Kim knows this works a little right to left and on the slower side at the end. Well, that was a rare, wild shot. We haven't seen her hit too many offline shots. Maybe the distance has been a little bit short or long, but that was a pretty errant tee shot. Wow. Just pushed it ever so slightly by an inch. It's just sneaking up there and now leading by one. Here's Kim. 10 yards ahead, but from the right hand side of the fairway. Oh, wow. How about that for precision? A lot of flair in her own right. Just a bubbly personality grinning ear to ear since this putt is downhill. Not a whole lot of movement to it might pull down to her left, but putting back into the wind, which is kind of laid down for the moment. Really nice. Great tee shot. Lovely approach pays it off. NASA Hataoka making a move here and she's moved up into a tie for second. Well, how about one back? Here comes NASA. Little 60 yard shot for a limb. See how she can manufacture something here. Went ahead with the high full shot, making that ball dance. I was definitely that was her game plan. She was looking left all the way and looking for that slope. And here's Goose of his third. It going a lower route, trying to bump it over that that hump. And there's an effective use of the ground game. Clever. Well done. Yes. Make. She's got to stay pace. Pretty solid. Good stuff. And it really is. Yeah, I love it. So not in the bunker. And then Kim, her second at the par three, 12th. It'll be very hard to get this to land softly and spin. Oh, wow. That's one way to do it, right, Karen? Yeah, it's doesn't have to land softly if it's going to hit the flag. I mean, almost a little bit unlucky. You didn't go in in the fairway at the 13th. Gustav took some extra time trying to figure out what club and how how far this is going to play, starting on a good line and ending on a great one. Oh, she got away with it. It's counted. That was a sneaky one. NASA long one for Birdie at 16. Yeah, she's got to get a feel for the slope. Here comes over the ridge. Looks really good. Oh, NASA. That was mega. Let's move ahead to the 16th. Here is Austin Kim. This is her third at the par four. She was in the penalty area, able to go down there and pitch it out and now working hard for a par. And she just may get it. That was really well done. You could see that the control she was trying to get on that that little punch shot that she played there. So she can hit one of those laser like wedges that we've seen quite a few times throughout the week. Yeah, that looked pretty good from the team. Yeah. Popular spot beyond the flag. Goose of a thinking birdie and a chance to tie the lead at 15. That's the read. She hit it. Oh, that's a couple putts she's left just shy. Because I don't think she can fly it all the way to the green. But this is a really important shot. This is on an aggressive line down the right high. Oh, short. Wait, did that run towards the penalty area? Very close. I think in. Wow. Yeah. You think it's in? It looked very close. But she needs to hit this at least 120 to get it up over a small ridge. Oh, gorgeous. This definitely becomes a birdie hole when you hit a couple of drives like these two have. Let's check back in with NASA. She did not go in the water with her second. So here's her third. Yeah, found the ball was debating whether to go back and take a drop. But I think in her mind, she needs to hold this. And it just was such a difficult shot there. That was a horrible lie. But obviously, Karen, she knows where she stands. The way that she's playing this 18th and she thought she had to knock it in. See if she can keep that mentality here. Oh, leaked it right. She just might have pushed it a tad and it just stayed out there. Wow. Those are two big birdie misses for both players. NASA for par at 18. She was within one after rolling in the long one at 16. Three putt at 17 and then the penalty area and a bogey at 18. And now Goose of a huge save at 14. She's trying to do it again here at 17 to stay one back. Heading to the par 5 18th. Oh, she finally gets a par right when she needed it exercised. Not too different from the front yardage she had yesterday. She had a 204 yards hit four iron today. She has 208 to the front. Well, that sounded kind of clunky. Came out low. Hard to tell if that rolled up or into the front bunker. First cut short of it. It's going to leave an awkward pitch over those bunkers. Probably looking at landing this 190 playing no more than 170. That was an aggressive swing at the club, launching that iron up high. Yeah, that is the shot of a champion right there. Now she's been in front and she's played like she's been there her whole career. Trying to land this, you know, like 30, 35, as she said, somewhat short and let it release back. Oh, she hit that way too hard. That's kind of like that extra shot. Espresso just kicked in. Trying to chip in for Birdie. Oh, what a try. It was a good one. She can definitely hold her head up high, Kay. I think she's. Yeah. She's had a good effort this week and we'll be seeing a lot more of her on the top of our leaderboards. Oh, it bobbled a little bit to start, Karen. And then that wind just stopped it dead. The wind was really gusting as she was over the ball. Long before she's there, I mean, she's handled herself well. You think about all those clutch putts that she's made. It's just been when she's needed to. Here is the Birdie attempt for Kim in her 100th start since winning the U.S. Women's Open from out of nowhere. Now fully known fourth year on the LPGA Tour. And she's a champion again. Ailem Kim wins the Lotte Championship. Take a bow, Ailem. Yeah, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard. I'm guessing that's good bubbly if it's Pauline. Grace Kim, the defending champ out there. It was a great battle. Really was. Really. Both of these players pushing each other. The greatness and Ailem Kim gets it done by two. She's a winner for the second time.