Out of sight, but not out of mind.

Michelle Wie? Well, her, too, and we'll see a lot of her on television in her 2007 LPGA debut starting today at the Ginn Tribute in South Carolina.

But we're talking about Kimberly Kim, who's rapidly becoming one of the best junior golfers in the nation after winning her second American Junior Golf Association tournament this year. She won the Heather Farr Classic in Mesa, Ariz., last month.

Kim2, as she likes to be called — it's specially engraved on her Ping putter by the Phoenix company — ran away to an 8-stroke, wire-to-wire victory in the Thunderbird International Junior in Scottsdale, Ariz., setting a tournament record with a 10-under-par 206 for 54 holes.

One of two players sharing the previous record of 209? Morgan Pressel, who won the event in 2005.

A Big Island native, Kim moved to Arizona two years ago to cut down on travel expenses to play in the six minimum AJGA events required to be ranked. But she still calls Pahoa home.

She might be out of sight in local tournaments, but she's certainly not out of the minds of Hawai'i's golf fans with her national success. Especially after she became the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur last summer.

Kim misses the Islands, she said in a telephone interview. But a busy golf schedule that's going to be even busier this summer is keeping her more than occupied.

"My wife (Arlene) is more homesick. She really likes to go back to Hawai'i," said Kimberly's father, Soo Young Kim, who commutes regularly to tend to his Big Island orchid farm.

It's a sacrifice that both parents pay for ensuring that their 15-year-old prodigy gets to play against the best junior golf competition without having to fly 2,500 miles. One way.

The move to Arizona seems to be paying off, according to Soo Young Kim. Kimberly moved up to No. 3 in the latest AJGA Polo Rankings following her victory.

"And Kimberly is making a lot of golf friends," he said.

And beating them, too.

The field she lapped last week at the Grayhawk Golf Club's Raptor Course in which she had two bogey-free rounds of 67 in three days included No. 1 Esther Choe, who's turning pro out of high school; No. 2 Vicky Hurst, No. 5 Stephanie Kono of Honolulu and Taylor Karle, who played in the LPGA Fields Open at Ko Olina with Kim.

"I had a good week. I thought I played OK," Kim said modestly, but quickly adding that her victory showed "working hard the last two years is paying off."

And sometimes being tired has its advantages, too, Kim said.

"By the back nine (of the final round Monday) I was tired enough to be in my own world and not worry about whether or not I was winning the event." So much so, she said, that "I was in a good mood."

The runaway victory, though, came as somewhat of a surprise, said Kim, who had just returned with her father from Gyeongju, South Korea, where she played in the Korean Women's Open, one of the KLPGA majors.

The long trip across the Pacific added to her being more tired than usual, conceded Kim, who enjoyed her father's native country and the competition.

"The golf courses are so weird there. They're so far from the city," Kim said.

Even though she's no longer living in Hawai'i, Kim is still racking up the frequent-flier miles.

Next week she's headed to the McDonald's LPGA Championship in Maryland and then will meet up with Wie again in the U.S. Women's Open in Southern Pines, N.C., the final weekend in June. Following the Women's Open, Kim will play in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links in Wheaton, Ill., July 9 to 14. She was runner-up in the event last year.

Then she'll "probably" enter the U.S. Girls Junior in Washington state, July 23 to 28, and then defend her U.S. Women's Amateur title in Carmel, Ind., Aug. 6 to 12.

Kim is looking forward to playing in the two LPGA majors, having missed the cut in the first one of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She also missed the cut in the two LPGA events in her backyard — the SBS Open at Turtle Bay and Fields Open in Hawai'i — in February.

"It was a good learning experience," Kim said about the first three LPGA appearances of her budding golf career.

Making an LPGA cut is the next goal in mind for the youngster, who also has been figuratively out of sight in the world of local golf.