Mindy Kim Takes Two-Shot Lead as Second Round Closes 

LAKE GENEVA, Wis., May 31, 2008 – Mindy Kim of Diamond Bar, Calif., rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-5, 17th hole to take a two-stroke lead as the second round of the Aurora Health Care Championship closed on Saturday. Kim finished at even par for the day and is 4-under-par (140) for the tournament as Briana Vega of Andover, Mass., and Sarah-Jane Kenyon of Queensland, Australia, trail two shots back at 2-under-par 142.

Four players managed to get under par on a blustery Saturday. A combination of tricky greens and difficult pin placements left the field shaking their heads in disbelief. Only four birdies were made on the first hole and the scoring average for the second round was nearly 6-over-par (77.52).

“Overall, I thought I had a good day,” said, Kim, 18. “The wind was a big factor and it turned into survival golf out there. I wasn’t hot with the putter, but I made the putts when I needed them.”

For Kim, it marked the fifth consecutive round where she ended the day with the lead. The second-year Duramed FUTURES Tour pro captured her first professional win in wire-to-wire fashion two weeks ago at the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship.

“I just can’t explain it,” Kim said. “I had a good group to play with today and we had a good vibe. Birdies are usually our best friend there, but today, pars were.”

Kim isn’t thinking about the money list or back-to-back tournament wins. She was frustrated by her four bogeys that she called “stupid mistakes” as a result of some three-putts.

“I’m just happy to be in contention,” she said. “Those bogeys made me angry, but I’m still taking it one round at a time.

Vega tamed the wild winds on Saturday, coming in as one of the four players in red numbers. The combination of a new haircut, large gallery and adjustment to her long putter has the fourth-year pro primed to make a run at her first Duramed FUTURES Tour victory.

“I started getting a little ahead of myself and missed some four or five-foot putts to save par on the back nine,” said Vega, winner of The Golf Channel’s “Big Break VI: Trump National” series in 2006. “I’ll come out with the same game plan tomorrow and look for the same sort of shots. I’m a different player than I was as a rookie.”

Kenyon, a non-exempt LPGA Tour member, also remains in the hunt despite a sluggish start. Kenyon made bogey on her first hole and followed with a double-bogey on the second hole, but closed out her front nine with three birdies.

“It was definitely tough out there,” said Kenyon, whose last Duramed FUTURES Tour win came in 2005. “The pins were tricky and they can really sneak up on you. My double-bogey was all messy because of a three-putt.”

Whitney Wade of Glasgow, Ky., pulled into a tie for fourth along with Misun Cho of Cheongju, South Korea. She called it a very up-and-down round, but is relishing a chance to be in one of the final groups again ever since she finished eighth in El Paso, Texas.

“I was very colorful on the scorecard -- like a checkerboard,” Wade said. “It got windy in the middle of my round, but I was getting good with my shapes with all the circles and squares.”

A total of 75 players made the cut at 9-over-par (153).

Final-round play gets underway Sunday morning at 8 a.m. off the first tee. The leaders will tee off at noon.

For real-time scoring and more information, visit www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 77 degrees and winds blowing between 15-25 mph.

Local Amateur Schemm Continues to Impress on Saturday

The Wisconsin Badgers’ women’s golf team has a bright future the way Molly Schemm of Fort Atkinson and Kelsey Verbeten of Green Bay have played this weekend. UW Head Coach Todd Oehrlein came out to watch two of his athletes take on a punishing Geneva National Golf Club on a windy Saturday. Despite a combined four years of college experience, the pair showed poise beyond their years.

“It’s great experience for them to get out and play the way they did,” Oehrlein said. “I thought the conditions were really tough, but experience is incredibly valuable.”

Schemm minimized the damage with three bogeys to finish with a 3-over-par 75 and moved up into a tie for 25th. Despite a round with no birdies, she felt like she’s held her own through the first two days.

“I got up and down pretty well and made a lot of putts to save par,” said Schemm, a transfer from the University of Northern Iowa. “I’ve just been trying to hit fairways and greens and make two-putts.”

Schemm is soaking in the experience and felt fortunate to be in the same group as rookie Vicky Hurst of Melbourne, Fla.

“She hits the ball a mile past mine,” Schemm said of Hurst.

Schemm’s gallery included both sets of grandparents, an aunt and uncle, her own parents and their friends. Verbeten’s following was just as large, but the lefty struggled on her last nine holes and missed the cut after finishing the front nine with a 38.

Ashley Knoll Ascends Leaderboard With Low Round of 68

All it took was a little bit of Wisconsin wind to make rookie Ashley Knoll of The Woodlands, Texas, settle down. Knoll fired a bogey-free 4-under-par 68 on Saturday, an 11-stroke differential from her first-round total of 79. The morning gusts up to 25 mph reminded her just a little bit of the Texas wind at home and her college playing days at Texas A&M University.

“I felt a lot more comfortable today and came out with the attitude to go low this morning,” Knoll said. “I’ve been just trying to take the opportunities as they come.”

Playing in her first full season, Knoll joined Annie Young of Highland, Utah, Kristen Samp of Moberly, Missouri, and Briana Vega of Andover, Mass. as the only players to score under par on Saturday. She started the day tied for 116th and vaulted up the leaderboard into a tie for 12th. Knoll said her improvement on the greens were critical as she only needed 26 putts on Saturday compared to 32 on Friday.

“I putted a lot better and put myself in better spots around the greens,” Knoll said. “It’s definitely not what I wanted to shoot yesterday, but I’ve been letting bad scores get to me in the past few tournaments.”

Knoll mashed a 376-yard drive at the El Paso Golf Classic, the longest drive to date this season on Tour. Her best finish this year was a 16th-place showing at the Louisiana Pelican Classic.

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