Pahoa's Kimberly Kim, the youngest player on the U.S. team, won two points during yesterday's first two rounds of the Ping Junior Solheim Cup, being played at The Bridgewater Club in Westfield, Ind.

Kim, a 14-year-old Waiakea freshman, helped the United States play to a 6-6 tie with Europe. The junior competition closes today with 12 singles matches.

The Europeans hold the Cup and need 12 points to keep it, while the United States needs 12.5 points to reclaim the third biennial Cup.

In the morning four-ball matches, Kim teamed with Catherina Wang of Orlando, Fla., to defeat the Spanish team of Marta Silva and Azahara Mu–oz, 1-up. That helped the Americans take a 3 1/2 to 2 1/2 advantage into the afternoon's foursome, or alternate-shot format.

There, Kim played with Florida's Morgan Pressel for an easy 6-and-4 victory over Caroline Masson of Germany and Benedicte Toumpsin of Belgium. Kim and Pressel won five of the first seven holes.

Kim plays the second match this morning, against Spain's Carlota Ciganda.

Kim was a captain's pick for the competition. Last year, at age 12, she became the youngest in history to win an American Junior Golf Association open event.

LPGA

KO OLINA TO HOST 54-HOLE TOURNAMENT

An official announcement of the addition of the Fields Open in Hawai'i to the 2006 LPGA schedule will be made today from LPGA headquarters in Florida.

The inaugural 54-hole full-field event will be Feb. 23 to 25 at Ko Olina Golf Club. It will be the week following the second SBS Open at Turtle Bay, Feb. 16 to 18 at the Palmer Course.

Both events will be shown on The Golf Channel. SBS will also be broadcast in South Korea, while TV Asahi will show the Fields Open in Japan.

Fields Corporation was established in 1988 as a distributor of pachinko/pachislot machines, one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Japan. According to the LPGA release, Fields is enhancing its efforts in total sports marketing, which includes the management of sports gyms and professional athletes, and the production of sports events. Fields' aim is to develop its sports marketing business on a global scale.

"Fields is thrilled to bring the LPGA Tour back to Ko Olina Golf Club," said Hidetoshi Yamamoto, president and CEO of Fields. "We look forward to a first-class event that will give the players, fans and our guests a terrific experience at such a gorgeous venue."

The three-year agreement is among Fields, tournament organizer Momentum Japan and the LPGA. The initial purse will be $1.1 million.