Sei Young Kim led the BMW Ladies Championship at the end of first, second and third rounds this week at Pine Beach Golf Links in South Korea, but in the final round the nerves set in.
The 32-year-old South Korean pro hadn’t won a tournament since 2020, but she was in position to end the drought on Sunday — and then she missed a makable birdie putt on the first hole and three-putted for bogey on the third.
“I was very nervous from the very beginning, since it has been a while since I played in the last group, I wasn’t sure whether this was real. So I really was questioning myself,” Kim said. “… My father always told me when I’m nervous, ‘Don’t back off’ and I tried to remember that mindset.”
Kim didn’t make another bogey and made birdies on 5, 6, 7 and 9. She added two more on 14 and 15 to sign for a five-under 67 and cruised to the finish line. At 24 under, she beat runner-up Nasa Hataoka by four. Celine Boutier and A Lim Kim tied for third at 18 under.
It’s Kim’s 13th career victory, and she’s now a record 27th different winner on the LPGA Tour this season.
“I think it shows how strong the LPGA Tour is at the moment,” Kim said.
Back in 2019, Kim won three times, including the CME Group Tour Championship. She won twice more in 2020, highlighted by her only major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in October 2020 (which pushed her to No. 2 in the world). A month later she won the Annika but hasn’t lifted another trophy since.
As the drought continued, her confidence dwindled.
“There wasn’t any victory for the past five years. I was worried that this was going to get longer,” she said. “I just wanted to try hard, whether it takes five years or 10 years. I think it’s very important that you find the momentum and keep on that track, and keeping on the right track is I think one of the biggest lessons that I have learned. I want to take this momentum to have more wins in my career going forward.”
Kim started the day with a four-shot lead over Yealimi Noh and Hataoka, but Noh played the final 14 holes in even par after she was two under in the first four. Hataoka was one under after 11 and then birdied four of her last five, and while that late surge was good enough for runner-up honors, it wasn’t near enough to scare Kim.
“I think it took me more than 10 years to win in front of my family and friends,” Kim said. “It means so much to me. It is a tournament that I really wanted to win, and I find that I can’t express my words to all of it. I really had good energy from all the fans.”
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