South Korea's Kim captures LPGA season opener
South Korea's Kim Hyo-Joo captured her third career LPGA title on Sunday, firing a seven-under par 66 to win the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic at Paradise Island.
The 20-year-old rising Asian star charged to victory with two runs of three birdies in a row, finishing 72 holes on 18-under 274 to beat American Stacy Lewis, Sweden's Anna Nordqvist and defending champion Kim Sei-Young of South Korea by two strokes.
"My goal coming into today was top 10 but I'm really happy and really pleased to win," Kim said through a translator.
Kim won her first major title at the 2014 Evian Championship, an opening-round 61 helping her edge Australia's Karrie Webb by a stroke in France, and added last year's LPGA Founders Cup trophy.
Kim birdied the par-5 fourth, par-3 fifth and par-4 sixth and eighth holes to leap into the title chase. She followed with birdies at the par-3 12th, and par-4 13th and 14th to seize a three-shot lead.
But Lewis made her third birdie in a row at the 15th to pull within two and Kim missed an eight-foot par putt at 16 for her lone bogey, leaving Lewis only one stroke back.
Kim answered by sinking an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th and then parred the par-5 18th for a two-stroke edge with Lewis in the fairway behind her.
"I knew on the last hole you can get on for two so I was a little nervous coming up 18," Kim said.
Lewis put her second shot into greenside rough and had a chip shot for eagle to force a playoff. But it bounced past the cup to hand Kim the triumph.
"(Kim's) 7-under is a great score," Lewis said. "I knew it was going to take something like that. Got off to a bit of a slow start but proud of the way I came back on the back nine there and gave it a shot."
The runner-up effort was the 12th top-three finish for Lewis since her most recent LPGA victory 19 months ago at the 2014 Northwest Arkansas Championship, her ninth second-place showing in the span, the second-longest win drought of her career.
Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum fired a 65 to match the tournament record and share fifth on 277 with American Paula Creamer and South Korea's Lee Il-Hee.
American Brittany Lincicome also shot a 65 to share eighth on 278 with South Korean Kwak Min-Seo and English teenager Charley Hull.