Kim maintains 2 shot advantage

Mi Hyun Kim lost her focus today in the LPGA Corning Classic. She did not, however, lose her lead.

The 23-year-old South Korean, who had a first-round 65, kept her hold on first place with a solid, 2-under 70 as some familiar faces moved into contention two strokes back.

Cindy Flom, the 1987 winner, matched her career best with a 65 and was tied at 137 with Nancy Ramsbottom and Betsy King, the 1991 champion. Ramsbottom, who had three birdies and an eagle on the front nine, shot a 67.

Defending champion Kelli Kuehne was another stroke back after her second straight 69. Penny Hammel, who had an opening 67, faltered with a 75 and fell from sole possession of second to well off the leaderboard.

Liz Earley of Canada, who made her first cut of the year, led a group of five at 140 while 83 players made the 147 cut.

Kim, bothered by a muscle strain in her left shoulder for the last month, said the pain intensified during the round and disturbed her concentration.

"I am a little sore," said Kim, who began the day with a bogey on No. 10, a 364-yard, par-4 dogleg right. "I am going to go and have the ice and heat treatment after I practice to make it feel better. I had some bad shots out there because I was a little hurt, and now I don't think that I have any feelings in my shoulder."

Flom's bogey-free day had her smiling from ear to ear. She only needed 23 putts on the round and reeled off seven birdies. A nice save for a par on No. 18 after her tee shot landed in the right rough made her day.

"I think that's going to give me a little extra boost of confidence," said Flom, who had a 65 in the 1992 Kemper Open. "That'll keep me going overnight."

Although the last of Flom's five career wins came in the 1991 Northgate Computer Classic, she was even confident enough to dream again.

"It would be so incredible (to win)," she said. "For a while there, I went through a major-league slump, and it lasted for about four years. My swing got to where it was not functional for scoring, and to break out of that takes a while. These last couple of years I've really been working on it, and now I'm starting to see it pay off a little bit."

King's putter also saved her.

"I am not hitting the ball well, but I have been putting well the last two days," she said. "Each day I have been able to make a 20-footer or better. I need to hit the ball better tee to green through the weekend."

The 6,062-yard Corning Country Club, soaked by rain for a week, dried out some more as the wind gusted again and the sun finally shone through. But because several holes were still muddy, tournament officials kept the preferred-lie rule into effect.

The rule allows players to lift their balls on the fairways, clean them and place them back down, and it was a good bet to remain in effect on the weekend. Showers were forecast for late Saturday afternoon, and more rain was expected Sunday as another low-pressure system approached from the Midwest.

That wasn't about to dampen the spirits of Ramsbottom, who has never won in the 13 full years she's played on tour and is slowly rounding back into form after giving birth to her second daughter 10 months ago.

"I love where I'm at," said Ramsbottom, who was six months' pregnant with her first child when she tied for third in the 1996 Corning Classic. "Nobody expects anything from me. I don't expect a whole lot, but I know the potential is there."

Ramsbottom, who skipped 11 of the first 14 tournaments of the year and failed to make the cut in the three she entered, said the turning point of her round Friday came after a three-putt bogey on No. 18. She followed that with a bad second shot on No. 1 that landed in a bunker guarding the green on the 402-yard, par-4 hole. After getting onto the green, she drained a 45-foot putt for par.

"After three-putting the hole before, that kind of helped me turn my attitude around a little bit," said Ramsbottom, who then chipped in from 50 feet on No. 3 for birdie and sank a 12-foot eagle putt on the 449-yard, par-5 fifth hole. "I'm excited. It never entered my mind that I could come here and be in contention to win. I haven't been there in a while."

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