A Lim Kim secures place in LPGA Tour season-ender

KOREAN A Lim Kim secured her place in the LPGA Tour’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship with a two-stroke victory in the US$3 million (RM 13 million) LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei on Saturday.

Kim claimed her second career LPGA Tour title with a four-round total of 18-under-par 270 (66, 69, 67, 68) at Hoakalei Country Club, two shots ahead of final round playing partner Nataliya Guseva.

The win vaulted Kim from 65th to 22nd spot in the LPGA Tour’s Race to CME Globe standings, guaranteeing her a place in the 60-player field for the US$11m (RM 48m) CME Group Tour Championship on November 21-24. During Friday’s third round, Kim chalked up her second hole-in-one on the LPGA Tour at the 140-yard 9th hole, using a 9-iron to find the cup straight off the tee.

Entering the final round a stroke ahead of Guseva on a breezy day, Kim kept her nerve to fend off her opponent in a closely-fought battle. 

The Korean ended a six-hole par streak with a birdie on the par-five 18th to win by two shots from Guseva, who closed with a 69. “On the course, I feel like it was more fun.

It was super fun. I haven’t felt this way in a long time,“ said Kim, whose first LPGA Tour title came at the 2020 US Women’s Open. “I was confident that I would make it to the CME, so I really haven’t given it much thought,“ added the 29-year-old.

Kim is the third Korean player to win on the LPGA Tour in 2024, joining Amy Yang (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship) and Haeran Ryu (FM Championship), and is the third Korean winner of the LOTTE Championship following Sei Young Kim (2015) and Hyo Joo Kim (2022). 

The US$450,000 (RM2m) winner’s cheque took Kim past the US$1m (RM4.3m) mark in official season earnings (US$1,099,359) and past US$3m (RM13m) in official career earnings (US$3,138,132). Rookie Auston Kim finished in outright third place on 15-under-par, which was the American’s best finish of the season and third top-10 of the year.

Meanwhile, Kim’s compatriot and LPGA Tour stalwart Angela Stanford closed with a 71 to tie for 26th on five-under-par in what could be her final LPGA Tour event. “I really didn’t get emotional until I was looking at my scorecard. I said going into today I wanted to be me, I wanted to play my game.

I hit every green on the back nine. Throughout my career my iron play was what I relied on, so that kind of made me get teary-eyed,“ said Stanford, who has seven LPGA Tour titles to her name including one Major at the 2018 Evian Championship.