I.K. Kim putts her way into first after Round 2 of ANA Inspiration golf tournament

It’s nearly as indelible a moment in ANA Inspiration history as any of the winner’s plaques near the 18th green or any victory jump into Poppie’s Pond, but for all the wrong reasons.

The lipped-out, one-foot putt that would have won the tournament. The look of horrified anguish on the player’s face. The loss in the subsequent sudden-death playoff.

I.K. Kim, on the verge of her first major championship in 2012, whiffed on what looked like a “gimme” putt on the 72nd hole and eventually wound up second to Sun Young Yoo. Kim’s career stalled, and it was four years before she would get another win on the LPGA Tour.

On Friday, in the second round of the first major championship of the year at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Kim calmly dissected the Dinah Shore Tournament Course with a seven-under 65. Her two-day total of eight under left her alone in the lead, three strokes ahead of former Pepperdine All-American Katherine Kirk, who shot 68.

Jin Young Ko (71) and first-round leader Ally McDonald (72) were tied for third at four under, and Lexi Thompson (72) and Danielle Kang (69) were among five players at three under.

Kim, Kirk and McDonald all played in the morning, with perfect scoring conditions and virtually no wind for most of their rounds.

Ko, Thompson and Kang were not so fortunate. They all played late, when gusting winds of at least 25 mph were perfectly suited to flying kites but played havoc with scores. Kang’s 69 was the only afternoon round under 70. Ko got to six under late in her round, but back-to-back bogeys stalled that run up the leaderboard.

Defending champion Pernilla Lindberg shot 78 in the wind and finished at seven over for the tournament, missing the cut by two shots.

In her 13th season on the tour, Kim has seven victories, including the Women’s British Open in 2017, the year she won three times. After Friday’s round, her best in this tournament, she chose only to look forward.

“You know, every passage of life has meaning to it and serves some purpose,” she said. “So I’m just here doing my best. ...

“Sometimes winning is great, but for me as an athlete, you want to see some progress in your game. That’s what I’m focusing on at the moment.”

Kim took an extended break after last season to recover from back and knee ailments. She has played only twice this year, most recently in last week’s Kia Classic, in which she finished tied for 19th.

She had eight birdies and one bogey Friday, positioned her shots perfectly all day and, most importantly, made putts.

“Out here, you have to get what you see,” she said about her putting. “I was seeing some lines today, you know. ... I had makeable putts that went in.”

Kirk, the NCAA player of the year at Pepperdine in 2003, has won three times in an up-and-down LPGA career that included an extended slump in 2015 and 2016, when she missed the cut in 20 of 38 events.

“I had a lot of people asking me, ‘Are you close to retiring?’ It did make me think, ‘yeah, maybe I’m closer than I think,’ ” she said. “I still think I had unfinished business.”

But with a new coach and help from her husband, she began righting things, and in 2017 ended a seven-year winless streak with the third tour victory of her career.

Friday, she was nearly perfect … for 16 holes. At seven under and one shot off the lead, errant tee shots led to bogeys on the two finishing holes to leave her with a 68 and at five under.

“I guess the first 16 holes were pretty textbook,” she said. “I’m happy with the way I’m swinging it.”

And the finish? She was as philosophical as Kim as each continued her redemptive mission. “That’s golf,” she said. “Sometimes you get a break and sometimes you don’t. Yeah, really happy with the score. Lots of positives. Just going to focus on that. ...

“I feel like my best golf is still ahead of me, which is nice to say at 37.

“I kind of have that Aussie mentality of never give up, either. ... You have to have a little of that in golf. It’s a tough game.”