Grace Kim is a major champion after claiming the Evian Masters title in spectacular fashion.
YOUNG Sydneysider Grace Kim didn’t feel 100 per cent as she teed off in the final round of the Evian Masters in France last month.
“I actually kept apologising for my continual coughing as I had that tickle in my throat,” said Kim after one of the most sensational finishes in major championship history to win the event in a sudden-death playoff with her good friend Jeeno Thitikul.
Kim fired rounds of 65-68-70-67 and won at the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to take home the $US1.2m first place prizemoney.
Kim said she felt ‘about 80 per cent right’ as she headed into that final round.
“But I was prepared to give 100 per cent of that 80 per cent,” she said.
Kim made two eagles in that final round, then chipped in for a birdie after finding the water on the first extra hole, capping a remarkable victory by making another eagle at the second hole of sudden death to secure her win.
“I have to admit I have won more events in my mind than I have in real life,” grinned Kim as she celebrated becoming just the fifth Australian woman to win a major championship, joining Jan Stephenson, Karrie Webb, Hannah Green and Minjee Lee as major champions.
And it’s probably fair to say that Kim never really looked the winner until her incredible eagle at the 18th in regulation play after her playing partner Thitikul laid up on the par-five, thinking a par would be enough to secure her the title.
She was wrong: Thitikul narrowly missed an eight-foot birdie try at the 72nd hole while Kim had a virtual tap-in for eagle to take the event into extra holes.
Playing behind her in the final group, recent major champion Minjee Lee also eagled the final hole to miss the playoff by just one shot.
Kim and Thitikul made small talk throughout their final round . . . at one stage they were even discussing their drink bottles, but the conversation died when both women suddenly realised they might be going to extra holes.
At one stage during the round, the ever-smiling Thitikul told Kim: “smile, you just made a par”.
There’s never been a lack of confidence with Kim, who won her first start on the LPGA Tour in 2024 but has narrowly missed a few times since.
“I wasn’t that nervous in the playoff. It was similar to when I won in Hawaii,” she said.
“I do trust my caddy a lot. Just to have a caddy you can trust; that really settled my mind.
“He knew my game and that makes such a difference.”
Kim became good friends with the legend Karrie Webb after being one of Webb’s scholarship winners before she turned pro.
“Karrie took me on a trip by myself and I was fortunate enough to play Pine Valley and at the time I didn’t quite know what a big deal it was,” she said.
“We also played Winged Foot and it was a whole week with her and that was just incredible. We even shared a hotel room. It was an experience that money can’t buy.”
Kim said she felt bad that she kept coughing – and the tickle in her throat was a nuisance.
“I just had to push through the pain.”
That was quickly forgotten when fellow Aussies Lee, Green and Steph Kyriacou were there to shower her in champagne after she secured the title.
“I’ve usually been the one doing the spraying so it was nice to be on the other end of it for a change,” she laughed.
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