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Kim wins US$1.5m prize
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With the richest prize in women鈥檚 golf history riding on the outcome, Kim Sei-young delivered the ultimate money putt in Naples, Florida.
Even if she didn鈥檛 even know the score.
Kim was tied for the lead going to the final hole on Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship. The nerves were obvious as she missed each of four straight putts from 12 feet or closer.
Moments later, the 26-year-old South Korean took her place in LPGA Tour history.
Kim made the putt of her life, a 25-footer for birdie that broke sharply to the right and into the cup for a 2-under 70, a one-shot victory over hard-charging Charley Hull and a US$1.5-million payoff.
鈥淚t means a lot to me just knowing that I won the biggest purse in women鈥檚 golf history,鈥 said Kim, whose wire-to-wire win was her third of the year. 鈥淭hat itself is an incredible honor.鈥
Hull made her earn it.
Six shots behind going to the back nine at Tiburon Golf Club, Hull birdied five of her last seven holes, including the last three. Her 12-foot birdie on the 18th gave her a 66 and a share of the lead.
This was right after Danielle Kang made a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 17th and came inches short of a closing birdie to tie.
Kim was fully aware of the pressure she felt. She just was oblivious to her competition.
All day, Kim thought it was Nelly Korda, who started one shot behind and fell back with a pair of costly drives to the left. From the top of a crown at the back of the green, Kim figured a two-putt would be enough.
The crowd cheered. She pumped her fist and fought back tears. Only later, she said, did she realize what it meant.
鈥淎fter I made it, I saw the leaderboard. I didn鈥檛 know that Charley finished at 17 (under). What if I didn鈥檛 make it? We would have gone to a playoff and that wouldn鈥檛 have been good for me. So, wow!鈥
Wow, indeed.
Kim won for the 10th time in her LPGA career, joining Pak Se-ri (25), Park In-bee (19) and Shin Ji-yai (11) as South Korean players with at least 10 victories.
This was memorable for the finish 鈥 and the prize.
Instead of a US$500,000 first-place check and a US$1-million bonus to a season points race, CME Globe wanted to award US$1.5 million in official money to any of the 60 players who qualified for the season finale. That鈥檚 US$500,000 more than the previous record prize, $1 million at the US Women鈥檚 Open.
Kim finished at 18-under 270 and was No. 2 on the LPGA money list behind Ko Jin-young, who tied for 11th and still had no complaints about her season. Besides the money title, Ko won LPGA player of the year and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average. She won four times this year, including two majors.
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