Kim In-kyung wins LPGA Marathon Classic
By Baek Byung-yeul
Korean golfer Kim In-kyung claimed another LPGA Tour title, Sunday, following Park Sung-hyun’s U.S. Women’s Open win last week.
At Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, Kim picked up her second victory of the year at the Marathon Classic. The 29-year-old carded a bogey-free eight-under par 63 in the final round and finished 72 holes with a 21-under par 263. This was the second best record following former Korean golfing legend Pak Se-ri’s 23-under 261 win in 1998. Kim pocketed $240,000 for her sixth LPGA Tour victory.
“I think today the pin positions were a little more comfortable for me than before,” Kim told LPGA.com. “I’ve been hitting a little draws this week, and when the pin is tucked on the left side, I was having a hard time, but I think just knowing what I’m doing kind of helped me to plan out the round.”
With the win, Kim became the second golfer to have a second triumph this season following Ryu So-yeon, who has already won two titles -- the ANA Inspiration and the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Kim captured last month’s ShopRite LPGA Classic title.
Kim’s win also proved the ongoing Korean dominance on the LPGA Tour this year. Among 20 tour events this season, Korean golfers have won 10 of them -- Kim and Ryu with two, and Jang Ha-na, Amy Yang, Park In-bee, Lee Mi-rim, Kim Sei-young and Park Sung-hyun with one each.
Lexi Thompson had her fifth second-place finish of the year after shooting a 5-under-par 66.
“I put up a good score. I had a little bit of a rough stretch there… but overall I’m very happy with the way I played,” Thompson told LPGA.com. “I was hitting a cut around the golf course, and that’s usually not what I do. But I managed to put up some good scores, which I’m very happy about.”
The 18-year-old rookie Nelly Korda, the daughter of Czech tennis star Petr Korda, had the 54-hole lead but couldn’t stay on top after carding a 3-over-par 74 to share eighth. Park Sung-hyun shared sixth after finishing at 13-under.
Kim started the final round at 13-under, two behind Korda, but she got off to a good start as she birdied the first hole. She took two more at the third and fourth. Kim closed the front nine with three birdies in a row to reach 19-under and picked up consecutive birdies at the 15th and 16th to lock down the title.