Sei Young Kim ended a five-year winless run on the LPGA Tour with a four-shot victory at the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea.
The former major champion took a four-shot lead into the final day at Pine Beach Golf Links, with Kim retaining control – on home soil – by mixing six birdies with a lone bogey during a final-round 67.
Kim recovered from an early bogey at the par-three third to register four birdies in a five-hole stretch from the fifth, seeing her turn in 33, then extended her advantage with back-to-back gains from the 14th.
Kim carded rounds of 62, 66, 69 and 67 to complete victory
A three-par finish kept Kim on 24 under and comfortably ahead of closest challenger Nasa Hataoka, who matched her five-under 67, while A Lim Kim ended six strokes back in tied-third alongside Celine Boutier.
Victory is Kim’s 13th on the LPGA Tour since joining in 2015 but first since winning the inaugural edition of The Annika, formerly known as the Pelican Women’s Championship, in November 2020.
Hataoka birdied four of her last five holes – including each of the last three – to reduce Kim’s winning margin, with Kim and Boutier’s final rounds both bogey-free to lift them into tied-third.
“Pretty happy with the result,” Boutier said. “I feel like I didn’t really know what to expect coming into the week but very happy to have contended a little bit and give myself a few chances out there, even when it was really windy.”
Defending champion Hannah Green also produced a three-birdie finish to close a six-under 66 and jump into tied-fifth with Yealimi Noh, who started the day in second but slipped back with a final-round 70.
Korean pair Hye-Jin Choi and Narin An fired round-of-the-day 63s to grab a share of seventh with American Lindy Duncan, with Minjee Lee and Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen among the group ending tied-10th.
A four-under 68 saw Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh finish in tied-19th, while Lottie Woad moved inside the top 25 after posing seven birdies in her six-under 66.
What’s next?
The LPGA Tour stays in South Korea for the Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown, a team event where Thailand are the defending champions. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 3am on Sky Sports Mix. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
