The LPGA Tour’s LOTTE Championship was capped with an epic finish as 22-year-old Rookie Sei Young Kim made two amazing shots on back-to-back holes that secured her victory.
First, she endured a beleaguered 18th hole, where she suffered from a water hazard and her final approach to the green barely cleared the water guarding the hole. She was left with a single chance to secure a tie and force a sudden-death playoff against Inbee Park. She had to make par with one final shot. She cut through the nerve-wracking situation with a stellar chip that gave her one more shot at winning the whole thing - in overtime.
The terms of final victory were set - the woman who won the next single hole would walk away with the championship. Kim’s first shot set her up before a pond that stood between her and the green. She set up for a second shot, completely unaware of the awe-inspiring shot was about to make. She takes a big swing and the ball flies over the water, bounces off the green twice - and sinks into the hole!
The crowd goes absolutely wild and Kim is confused, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She figures it out and she reacts with shock, floored by her own feat of skill – or luck, for you cynics out there. Her opponent, Park, then fell short in her bid to make her own eagle and send the match to another hole.
Kim stands proud as the first South Korean winner of the event's four-year history and goes home with the $270,000 winner’s check. She also comes off of a recent victory at the Pure Silk Bahama Classic, which she won after a three-player playoff.