LPGA winner Kim A-lim 'proud' of sticking with change
Kim A-lim poses with the trophy after winning the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Fla., U.S., Feb. 2. AFP-Yonhap
As one of the longest hitters on the LPGA Tour, Kim A-lim mostly used to hit draw shots, shaping the ball from right to left, with her driver.
While she ranked ninth in the average driving distance last year with 274.18 yards, the 29-year-old Korean was 131st in driving accuracy with 66.18 percent. Draw shots typically have more run and balls can trickle into rough even after hitting the fairway.
To better control her drives, Kim has decided to start hitting more fade shots this season, taking the ball from left to right with less run.
Though Kim has been working on fades for only two weeks, the change has paid quick dividends, as she won the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday (local time).
Kim shot 20-under to hold off world No. 1 Nelly Korda by two shots. Kim also ranked second in the field with an average of 275.38 yards off the tee and hit a little over 80 percent of the fairways.
"I felt a little uncomfortable because I've used fade for only two weeks, but I felt all right," Kim said after shooting five-under 67 in the final round. "I'm going to work harder. I'll have more time to get the shape better and get more used to it."
Kim said her plan for the tournament was "to just keep driving the changes."
A Lim Kim kisses a golf ball after sinking her final put to win the LPGA Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Fla., U.S., Feb. 2. UPI-Yonhap
"I'm proud of myself that even though I was feeling discomfort, I attempted and went through with it," she said. "After this, what I'm going to work on is when I need to be aggressive, I really need to bolt myself down and be aggressive."
She was plenty aggressive in Orlando, attacking difficult pin locations en route to leading the field with 24 birdies. With rounds of 65-69-67-67, Kim was the only player to break 70 in all four rounds at Lake Nona.
Kim began the final round with a three-stroke lead, but Korda put some pressure on her and even caught her briefly on the back nine.
But Kim birdied three of her final four holes, with the putts on the 16th and the 18th greens particularly memorable for their distance and the context.
The birdie on the 16th gave Kim a two-shot lead with two holes to play. Korda, playing in a group ahead of Kim, holed a lengthy birdie putt on the 18th to narrow the gap to one stroke, meaning Kim had to make par to avoid falling into a playoff. Kim rose to the occasion and poured in a long birdie putt of her own to ice the win.
"On 16, I saw my line and I trusted that. Just hit it and then a good result. That's all," Kim said. "No. 18, I wanted to make birdie. It was a little downhill and downgrain, but still a good line for me. I've made a lot of putts like that before, so I trusted that."
Kim said she stayed confident even after watching Korda birdie the 18th.
"When I saw Nelly birdie 18, I also thought to myself that I'm going to birdie this as well," Kim said. (Yonhap)