Kim has showing for record book
She shoots 31-under par for LPGA Tour mark
HOBART - Sei Young Kim wasn’t just in the zone. She was in a cocoon inside a bubble inside the zone, wielding her 14 clubs as if a maestro conducing a symphony, making her golf ball dance to music only she could hear.
When it was over Sunday – and by that we mean her virtuoso performance, because the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic was over much earlier in the day – Kim had laid waste to the LPGA record book with one of the great scoring exhibitions in golf history.
The 25-year-old from South Korea shot a bogey-free 65 to finish at 31-under-par 257, obliterating the 72-hole LPGA Tour scoring record and tying the lowest score ever shot on the PGA Tour. She breezed to a nine-shot victory over runner-up Carlota Ciganda of Spain.
It was Kim’s seventh victory in 31⁄2 years on tour and it was beyond special. It was historic, one-in-a-million stuff.
“I feel, like, unreal. I never thought about shot, like, 31-under,” said the personable Kim, who is working on her English but whose clubs speak fluent birdie-ese. “I feel really incredible.”
The previous LPGA 72-hole record was 27-under, set by Annika Sorenstam at the 2001 Standard Register Ping and tied by Kim at the 2016 JTBC Founders Cup. The PGA Tour record is 31-under, set by Ernie Els at the 2003 Mercedes Championship.
Jordan Spieth shot 30-under at the 2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, making Kim only the third golfer, male or female, to finish at 30-under or better (Steve Stricker shot 33-under through the first four rounds of the 90hole Bob Hope Classic in 2009).
Kim also broke the LPGA record for most sub-par holes in a single event (32) and the 54-hole scoring record (24-under).
It’s fair to point out that 6,529-yard Thornberry Creek, with its generous
fairways, manageable rough and gently sloping greens, is not to be confused with Shinnecock Hills or Blackwolf Run.
With 14 golfers in the field finishing at 17-under or better and 10 scores of 64 or better, it’s safe to say this docile course will not play host to the U.S. Women’s Open anytime soon. Still, it’s hard to make 31 birdies and an eagle in 72 holes, even if you spot the golfer a flat 10-footer on every green.
A third-degree black belt in tae kwon do, Kim treated Thornberry like a badly mismatched MMA opponent. She shot rounds of 63-65-64-65 and hit an amazing 67 of 72 greens in regulation. Her only blemish was a double-bogey on the par-3 17th in the second round.
“That was just only miss shot,” she said. “Yeah, it’s crazy.”
Kim started the final round with an eight-shot lead and when she rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on top of playing partner Amy Yang’s birdie on the first hole, she might as well have shouted, “Nobody’s beating me today.” Yang made it semi-interesting by cutting the deficit to six shots with an eagle on the par-5 third, but Kim birdied Nos. 5 and 6 and the tournament was unofficially over.
“When I warm up I was feel a little bit of different than the third round because a little bit of pressure,” she said. “And then after that I think about how do you handle nerves today? Maybe it’s going to be a really hard time or really good time. And then I setting my goals just keep relax until last hole.”
Kim, the 2015 LPGA rookie of the year and a 2016 Olympian representing the Republic of Korea, joins a long line of touring pros who have blistered Wisconsin golf courses:
- In 2006, Corey Pavin made eight birdies on the front nine at Brown Deer Park and shot a PGA Tour-record 26 on his way to winning the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.
- In 2015, Jason Day won the PGA Championship with a 20-under 268 total at Whistling Straits, at the time the lowest score in relation to par in major championship history.
- Last year, Brooks Koepka tied the U.S. Open record with a 16-under total at Erin Hills. One day before Koepka hoisted the trophy, Justin Thomas tied the U.S. Open 18-hole record with a 63.
When we’re hospitable, par is hospitalized. Not that Kim was complaining.
“I really wanted to (do) something incredible this week,” she said.
Thirty-one under definitely checks that box.