Hyo Joo Kim will attempt to end a season-long trend on Sunday at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, as she looks to become the first multiple winner of the 2025 LPGA Tour season.
Since the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January, there have been 19 different winners from 18 events — the longest such streak in LPGA Tour history. But if Kim can overturn a three-stroke deficit to 54-hole leader Lottie Woad at Dundonald Links, she will be the first player this year to notch a second title.
The 30-year-old claimed her seventh career LPGA victory in March, winning the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass in a playoff over Lilia Vu.
Kim sits solo fourth at 14 under par after three under-par rounds. She opened with a two-under 70 on Thursday, with birdies on the par-four 5th, 6th and 8th holes helping her recover from two bogeys on the front nine.
On Friday, the Major champion went bogey-free, carding a six-under 66 to climb from a tie for 24th to solo fifth at the halfway mark. She built on that momentum in the third round, making five birdies in her first eight holes to jump up the leaderboard.
Although she dropped a shot on the par-four 9th, just her third bogey of the week — Kim regrouped with four straight pars before back-to-back birdies on the par-five 14th and par-three 15th lifted her to 15 under. She closed with three steady pars to match her second-round 66.
This is familiar territory for the Korean star. In six previous starts at the Women’s Scottish Open, Kim has twice finished in the top three, a tie for third in 2022 and a runner-up finish in 2023, when she fired a seven-under 65 in the final round, only to finish behind Celine Boutier.
Victory on Sunday would mark Kim’s first win in the United Kingdom and the first time in her career that she has recorded multiple titles in a single LPGA season. She would also become the eighth Korean golfer to win at least eight LPGA Tour titles, and just the third from her country to lift the Women’s Scottish Open trophy, following Mi Jung Hur (2019) and Mi Hyang Lee (2017).
While the pressure will be high heading into the final round, Kim’s links experience, proven scoring ability and current form suggest she will be a formidable contender as she aims to end the LPGA Tour’s streak of different winners in Ayrshire.
South Africa’s Paula Reto carded a nine-under 66, featuring seven birdies and a single bogey, and is looking set for a top-10 finish.
<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>
– Report from Ladies European Tour
Photo: Paul Devlin Getty Images
Article Link: Kim eyes consecutive LPGA title, Reto in sixth