Kimberly Kim "celebrated" her opening-round 73 at the LPGA Championship yesterday with a typically low-key activity: She took a history exam.

A year ago Kim, then 14, became the youngest ever to make the cut in the U.S. Women's Open and win the U.S. Women's Amateur. She struggled in Hawai'i's two LPGA events earlier this year — "I think you have to be more positive than I was" — but has captured the ReBath Heather Farr Classic and Thunderbird International Junior since.

Success has hardly gone to the head of Kim, who grew up on the Big Island and moved to Arizona last year to help her career.

"I just think I get lucky sometimes," Kim said yesterday from Maryland. "I'm not that confident. If you get lucky, you get lucky. I never think I'm better than anybody else."

Kim was better than the majority of the world's best female golfers in her second LPGA major yesterday. She shares 47th with, among many others, recent Punahou graduate Michelle Wie. They are six shots off the lead.

Kim, the only amateur in the field, had three bogeys and two birdies. "I played really good actually," she said. "I made lots of 4- and 5-foot putts."

She also averaged 263 yards off the tee — 30 yards ahead of Wie, who is 5 inches taller but did not use her driver.

Because of geography, Kim has been caught up in the relentless swirl of talk about Wie's injury, attitude, entourage, game and Annika Sorenstam's public scolding of the 17-year-old after the way she withdrew from the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika last week. According to Kim, she can't go anywhere or talk to anyone without having them ask about Wie.

"It's always on my mind because she's also from Hawai'i," Kim said. "I have no disrespect for her. She's always seemed really nice when I'm around her. I want to know why people care so much.

"After the Annika interview, so many people are telling her what to do. I think it's smarter to apologize, then people might have talked less. Although, at this point, I don't think that would happen."

Kim, who was scheduled to tee off at 1:26 a.m. HST this morning, wasn't thinking past today's round. "I don't want to jinx myself," she said. "I'll just play. Hopefully I'll hit it as good and get as lucky with my putting."