[Photo: Julio Aguilar]<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s Grace Kim shared the lead at the half way mark at the LPGA Tour\u2019s The Annika but it was a teenage star who grabbed the headlines for the first two days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kai Trump\u2019s second-ever round in an LPGA Tour event went far better than the first and included a near-ace that would have been the first hole-in-one of her life.<\/p>\n
OTHER NEWS: Nelly Korda made a surprising gear switch. Here\u2019s why it matters to amateur golfers<\/a><\/p>\n Ultimately, however, the young woman who was playing on a sponsor\u2019s exemption in the tour\u2019s penultimate tournament of the year learned that she has a long way to go with her game if she\u2019d like to be a professional one day.<\/p>\n Trump, the 18-year-old granddaughter of US President Donald Trump, followed her first-round 13-over-par 83 in The Annika at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, with a Friday effort of 75 that included four birdies. Those red numbers were sprinkled in among one triple bogey and one double bogey.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s two-round total of 18-over 158 put her last in the field of 108 players\u201427 shots behind co-leaders Kim (65-66) and Sweden\u2019s Linn Grant (68-63) and 17 away from the projected cut line at one-over-par.<\/p>\n The strong improvement in Trump\u2019s second round felt predictable, given the nerves the Florida high-schooler and University of Miami golf commit faced on the first day. Her invitation into The Annika was controversial, given her lack of notable success in the junior ranks, but she was included because the LPGA and the event wanted to take advantage of her family name and her popularity on social media, where Trump has 8 million followers across social media platforms.<\/p>\n