South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim triumphed at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass with a play-off victory over America’s Lilia Vu.
Vu began the final round at the Seville Golf and Country Club with a two-stroke advantage over England’s Charlie Hull but it was Kim who kicked up a storm with nine birdies for the round that closed the four-stroke gap between her and Vu. The 29-year-old finished with a closing 64 that brought her to match Vu’s 22 under total and force a play-off after she carded a final-round 68.
And it was Kim who came out on top with a birdie on the first extra hole that secured her the victory and marked her seventh career LPGA Tour triumph, as she also collected 500 points in the Race to the CME Globe.
“It has been a while since the last win and I worked hard in the wintertime. It was a surprise that it came so quickly, the win,” a translator said for the 29-year-old Korean.
Vu also spoke following her play-off defeat: “At one point I was like, ‘OK, I got to start making birdies’. When I think one shot at a time and just try to birdie that hole, it kind of works out.”
“So I’m not too afraid of the leaderboard. I feel like I don’t want it to control you so I’m not afraid of it.”
Hull had put up a fair fight of her own after she started strong in the first round with a 63, but finished on Sunday as the only one of the top-12 to not break 70. She struggled with opening bogeys and went onto close with a 71 to finish tied-11th with China’s Yahui Zhang on 17 under.
America’s Allisen Corpuz was just one stroke off the play-off, finishing solo third at 21 under while Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul finished fourth on 20 under and America’s Lindy Duncan rounded off the top 5 on 19 under.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda had also started the final round tied for second with Hull but the defending champion had struggled with two costly bogeys on her final three holes and fell five strokes off the top on 17 under, finishing in 22nd.
What is the next event?
The next event on the LPGA Tour schedule is the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, taking place between 2-6 April at North Las Vegas, Nevada in the U.S.