LPGA Tour: South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim wins with Solheim Cup star Leona Maguire tied in seventh
Hyo Joo Kim carded a 69 in the final round of The Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America to secure the victory with Solheim Cup stars Lexi Thompson, Cheyenne Knight and Leona Maguire all finishing in the top 10.
Last updated: 08/10/23 11:09 p.m.
Hyo Joo Kim celebrates with her trophy after winning the Ascendant LPGA to benefit Volunteers of America
South Korean Hyo Joo Kim won her sixth LPGA Tour title on Sunday with a wire-to-wire victory at The Ascendant LPGA in Colony, Texas.
Kim took a five-shot lead into the final round and a two-under-par 69 was enough to secure the title by four shots over Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines and Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand at 13 under.
Pagdanganan and Thitikul both carded 65-under par to share second place, with Australian Sarah Kemp fourth at eight under par after a 69.
American Solheim Cup stars Lexi Thompson (-7) – who will play on the PGA Tour next week after earning an exemption into the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas – and Cheyenne Knight (-6) finished fifth and sixth.
Ireland’s Leona Maguire (-5) recovered from a disappointing Saturday to score a 68 on Sunday and finish tied for seventh.
-13 Hyo Joo Kim
-9 Bianca Pagdanganan, Atthaya Thitikul
-8Sarah Kemp
-7Lexi Thompson
-6 Cheyenne Knight
-5 Leona Maguire, Katherine Muzi, So Yeon Ryu
But Kim, ranked No. 7 in the world this week, was in unstoppable form and came from wire to wire to win on the LPGA Tour for the first time since April 2022.
She found herself tied for the round after 11 holes, with two birdies and two bogeys to show for and made an important birdie at the par-four 14th and added to the margin with a final birdie at the par-five 17th.
Hyo Joo Kim celebrates her victory in Texas on Sunday afternoon
Thitikul birdied five of his last seven holes to move up the rankings. It was his 10th top 10 finish of the season after bursting onto the scene in 2022 with two wins.
“Golfers have ups and downs, and ups (being) really ups and downs (being) really downs,” Thitikul said. “I’m so grateful that it happened this year.
“I’m only 20 years old and this is only my second year on tour. I can learn a lot from this year. Mentally, I think I’m learning a lot from this year.”
Pagdanganan was also hot late in the match, making six of her seven birdies on the back nine to get to six-under 30.
“The short game is pretty much everything in this sport, so I just put more time into chipping, putting and everything around the green,” Pagdanganan said.
“I can definitely say that the last two weeks, that’s kind of what saved my game. I wouldn’t say my ball striking was A+. It was pretty good, but I still missed a few greens. My short game has been my saving grace. I’d say for the last two weeks.”
And after?
The next event on the LPGA Tour schedule is the Buick LPGA Shangai at Qizhong Garden Golf Club in China, October 12-15.
Golf fans can enjoy live golf on Sky Sports next weekend with the Shriners Children’s Open on the PGA Tour and the Open de Espana on the DP World Tour.