Haenam: Kim Sei-young won her first LPGA title in nearly five years on Sunday, ending her long drought in her native South Korea. Kim shot five-under 67 in the final round to win the BMW Ladies Championship at 24-under 264 at Pine Beach Golf Links in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, on Sunday. The 32-year-old veteran completed a wire-to-wire victory by holding off Nasa Hataoka of Japan by four strokes.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim’s previous LPGA win had come in November 2020. Kim, who took home US$345,000 in winner’s check, now has 13 career LPGA victories. She is the seventh South Korean to win on the tour this year, joining Kim A-lim, Ryu Hae-ran, Kim Hyo-joo, Lee So-mi, Im Jin-hee, and Hwang You-min.
This was the sixth edition of the BMW Ladies Championship, the only LPGA tournament held in South Korea each fall, and Kim is the third South Korean champion, after Jang Hana in 2019 and Ko Jin-young in 2021. Kim was born in Yeongam, a town about a 30-minute drive from Haenam in the southern part of the country. This was Kim’s first LPGA win on South Korean soil.
“I’ve always dreamed of winning in front of my family, and it’s taken me over a decade,” Kim said. “This was a tournament that I’ve long wanted to win. I am really happy to win here, and also to deliver joy and happiness to my Korean fans.”
Decked out in her signature Sunday red trousers, Kim started the day with a four-stroke lead over Hataoka and Yeaimi Noh of the United States at 19-under. Kim’s lead briefly shrunk to one over Noh after she bogeyed the third hole and Noh birdied two of the first four holes. But Kim righted the ship with three straight birdies starting on the par-4 fifth, and another birdie on the ninth hole took her to 22-under at the turn, four shots clear of the field.
Kim moved to 23-under with her fifth birdie of the day on the 14th, and another birdie on the next hole virtually secured the title for the hometown favorite. Kim became the 27th different winner this season, an LPGA record. She also joined fellow South Koreans Kim A-lim and Ryu Hae-ran as the third wire-to-wire champion of the season.
She is the fourth South Korean player in LPGA history with at least 13 victories, behind Pak Se-ri (25), Park In-bee (21), and Ko Jin-young (15). Kim A-lim was the next-best South Korean at the BMW Ladies Championship, as she finished tied for third at 18-under after a 66 in the final round. Four more South Korean players placed inside the top 10. Choi Hye-jin and An Narin tied for seventh at 16-under, while Kim Hyo-joo and Lee So-mi tied for 10th at 15-under. Hannah Green, the 2024 champion from Australia, put up a 66 in the final round to tie for fifth at 17-under.