Kim Mi-hyun, 30, of South Korea won the SemGroup Championship Sunday, defeating U.S. LPGA Hall of Fame member Juli Inkster in a playoff, her country's first victory of the year on the American women's golf tour in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Kim missed a 5-foot putt for par on the 18th to force the playoff with Inkster, who had birdied the hole minutes earlier. On her second try at No. 18 in the playoff, Kim sank a 4-foot putt for par after Inkster made bogey, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Kim started the round one shot behind the leaders and won for the eighth time on the U.S. women's tour. Inkster, who will turn 47 next month, would have been the oldest player to win an U.S. LPGA Tour event. She closed with a 2-under 69.
Kim, who shot a 71, and Inkster finished regulation tied at 3-under, one shot ahead of Ai Miyazoto and Angela Stanford. Four others were at 1 under, including Lorena Ochoa, Reilley Rankin and Stephanie Louden. Rankin and Louden began the day in a four-way tie for first.
``My goal is just top 10, top 20 this week,'' Kim said. ``I never (thought) about a win this week. Maybe I worry about the cut.''
Kim, whose last U.S. tour win in 2006 came after a three-hole playoff with Natalie Gulbis in the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, hit her second shot in the playoff to the fringe on the back of the green, about 35 feet from the pin, and two-putted.
Inkster's second shot sailed over the green. She chipped 8 feet past the hole but sent her par attempt to the right of the cup.
``I don't know if it was adrenaline or what, but I just hit it too far and didn't get it up and down,'' Inkster said. ``Kind of disappointing.''
Six players held the lead at some point on a cloudy, humid day.
The par-71 Cedar Ridge Country Club course was soggy from storms that deluged the area over the past week.
Moments after Inkster had bogeyed No. 17 to fall out of the lead, Kim curled in a breaking 15-foot birdie putt at No. 16 to take a two-shot edge. Inkster sunk a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to close the gap to one shot.
Kim put her tee shot into the rough on the par-4 17th, but salvaged par, knocking a 5-foot putt into the center of the hole. On the 18th, her tee shot landed in the middle of the fairway but she hit into a greenside bunker and two-putted for bogey.
``After the bunker shot, I was so excited and nervous, so my hands were shaking,'' Kim said. ``So when I marked the ball, my hand was shaking. So when I set up the putt, I know the line, but I can't stroke the putt.''