Team victory serves as confidence boost for Korean LPGA sophomores

Im Jin-hee, left, and Lee So-mi, Korean golf players, imitate a selfie while holding their trophies after winning the Dow Championship at Midland Country Club in Midland, Mich., U.S., Sunday, in this Getty Images photo. Yonhap

Im Jin-hee and Lee So-mi both joined the LPGA Tour in 2024, having bagged six wins and five wins, respectively, on the Korean circuit.

Despite their winning credentials in KLPGA, breaking through on the U.S. tour proved to be difficult. Their long-awaited win finally came at a team event, the Dow Championship in Midland, Michigan, on Sunday (local time), where Im and Lee defeated Megan Khang and Lexi Thompson of the United States in a playoff.

It was Im's 39th start and Lee's 41st start on the LPGA Tour.

"I can't believe it," Lee said at a press conference. "Last year, we were rookies, and LPGA is very tough and different than KLPGA. Now we are winners, so I'm so happy."

The two teams finished the regulation tied at 20-under 260. Khang and Thompson finished their round earlier with Thompson making birdie on the par-3 18th in the fourball format -- with players each hitting their own ball and the better score of the two becoming the team's score on each hole.

Im and Lee, playing in the final group, both stood over birdie putts on the 18th green that would have sealed their win in regulation but missed.

The teams went back to the 18th for the playoff, which took the foursomes format, where the players would take turns hitting one ball.

Going first, Thompson put her tee shot to about five feet away, and the pressure was on the Koreans. Lee also found the green with her tee shot, though it ended up a bit farther from the hole than Thompson's.

Im stepped up and drained her birdie putt from about eight feet, putting the pressure squarely back on Khang. The American player pulled her birdie attempt, and the Korean duo celebrated their maiden wins.

Im, 27, and Lee, 26, each took home $399,510 in prize money.

"I thought about So-mi's shot. Lexi hit it really close to the pin but (So-mi) didn't care and just hit to the pin," Im said of her mindset standing on the 18th green for the playoff. "I tried to do the same, just going for it."

Both players said they enjoyed playing the team event for the first time.

"If I had it alone, I couldn't have made it," Im said. "I think we're the best team ever. Hopefully, we're coming back next year."

Lee said she was "a tiny bit nervous" on the 16th and 17th holes, but Im kept her loose down the stretch.

"She is just funny," Lee said of her teammate. "I think she was not nervous."

They are now 50th and 51st players from Korea to win on the LPGA Tour. Lee said it was a dream come true to join the list.

"I've been watching a lot of Korean players in LPGA, and so I had a dream that I wanted to go to LPGA," she said. "I wanted to play here and yeah, I did it."

The next stop on the tour will be the season's fourth major, the Amundi Evian Championship teeing off in France on July 10, and the two new winners will take their newfound confidence into the big event.

"We have more confidence after this event," Im said. "I'm trying really hard for my goal, so I will believe in myself more and go for it."