By Baek Byung-yeul
Korean golfer Kim In-kyung claimed her first career major championship win at the Ricoh Women’s British Open, Sunday.
At Kingsbarns Links in Scotland, Kim had a two-stroke victory over Jodi Ewart Shadoff of England after carding a one-under 71 in the final round. Her overall score for four rounds was an 18-under 270, one stroke shy of Karen Stupples’ tournament record in 2004. Kim also pocketed the $487,500 winning prize.
The win made Kim the first three-time winner of the 2017 LPGA Tour season. The 29-year-old won the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June and the Marathon Classic two weeks ago. Kim also saw her ranking go up to No. 9, up 12 spots from the previous week.
Winning the British Open is a great redemption for Kim.
Five years ago, Kim made an infamous mistake at the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship (now the ANA Inspiration) as she missed her 14-inch par putt on the 72nd hole, which consequently led her to lose her chance to win her first major.
After scoring 65, 68 and 66 on the first three rounds, Kim began the final round with a six-shot lead over Georgia Hall and Moriya Jutanugarn. Ewart Shadoff put some pressure on Kim, scoring a birdie on the second hole and five birdies in a row from the sixth to 10th holes and added two more on the 13th and 17th to close the gap to two. But Kim sealed her victory, scoring par on every hole on the back nine.
“I feel quite uplifted, I have to say, because I really didn’t expect to win this week. And having the lead and then going into the last round, was a great task,” Kim told LPGA.com. “I think I managed it quite well.”
Shadoff finished as the runner-up with a 16-under 272. Michelle Wie posted a six-under 66 on the final round to share third with Caroline Masson and Hall. Korea’s Jenny Shin came in sixth with a 12-under 276 and Kim Hyo-joo was tied for seventh with an 11-under 277. Park In-bee was tied for 11th with a 10-under 278.
With one more LPGA major championships left, Korean golfers have won three of the four majors played so far this season. Before Kim won the British Open, Ryu So-yeon won the season’s first major ANA Inspiration and Park Sung-hyun won the U.S. Women’s Open. The fifth and final major is the Evian Championship in France next month where Chun In-gee won with the lowest major score in history last year. Including Kim’s win in Scotland, Korean golfers now have won 12 out of 22 LPGA Tour events this season.