Sei Young Kim wins Lorena Ochoa Match Play

Sei Young Kim held off Ariya Jutanugarn 1 up on Sunday to win the Lorena Ochoa Match Play for her sixth LPGA Tour title.

After Jutanugarn won the par-5 17th with a birdie to force another hole, Kim finished off the match with a halve for a par on the par-4 18th.

“It was a really tough day today,” Kim said. “I never had such a hard win like today. I am happy that I was able to win and hold this trophy.” Though, that wasn’t easy. “That trophy is really heavy,” Kim said. “When I held it, I felt pain.”

In the morning semifinals at Club de Golf Mexico, Kim beat Mi Jung Hur 5 and 4, and the third-ranked Jutanugarn topped Michelle Wie 4 and 3. Hur won the third-place match, overcoming a five-hole deficit to beat Wie in 22 holes.

Kim trailed for only four of the 95 holes she played, also beating Maude-Aimee Leblanc (3 and 1), Danielle Kang (3 and 2), Charley Hull (3 and 1) and Karine Icher (5 and 4) in the event that switched from stroke to match play and moved from November. The 24-year-old South Korean player is projected to jump from 12th to eighth in the world ranking.

Kim opened birdie-eagle-birdie to take a 3-up lead in the final.

“She is an aggressive player, even with the 3-up start, I was still very nervous and focused in making birdies,” Kim said. “I just kept playing as if I was 1 down.”