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| - Japan's Nasa Hataoka and South Korean Ji Eun-hee, the past two champions, were enjoying the memories ahead of Thursday's start of the LPGA Kia Classic, which wasn't played last year. The matchup at Aviara Golf Club near San Diego is the final tuneup for next week's major showdown, the ANA Inspiration at Rancho Mirage, and returns after a 2020 Covid-19 wipeout. "I've been looking forward to coming back here," said Hataoka, the sort-of defending champion from 2019. "This was my first tournament that I played in the States and it has a lot of memories here for me. I'm very happy." Ji, the 2018 winner, captured her most recent title at the 2019 LPGA Tournament of Champions but enjoys being back at an event where she made an ace and earned her tour card,. "I'm really happy to be back here. When I come here I always have good memories," she said. "This course is really hard for me, so maybe I focus more and I try to practice hard and practice putting more. So maybe that's why I play better when I come here." It's the same plan she has for next week in Rancho Mirage, hoping to add to her lone major win, the 2009 US Women's Open. "Everybody wants to win a major," she said. "I'd really like to have one more. If not, I'll try hard. I'm always trying hard." The hilly course took its toll on Hataoka, 22, two years ago even in victory. "For me, being able to win on this tough course with a lot of up and downs, it was really, really something that gave me confidence," she said. "This course causes me to be breathing rough when I'm at the tee, so I think a lot of training really works out." While Ji sees her swing work as "about 60 to 70% to what I want to do," she feels putting will be most crucial this week. "Greens are pretty quite baked and there's a lot of slope on the green," Ji said. "So I have to really focus on reading the green." js/rcw
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