Kim ends LPGA victory drought

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November 17, 2014

Christina Kim ended one of the longest winless droughts in LPGA Tour history when she won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on Sunday.

The 30-year-old American, whose previous triumph on the LPGA Tour occurred at the 2005 Tournament of Champions, let the tournament at the Club de Mexico throughout but had to wait until the second play-off hole to be confirmed as the winner.

Kim (71) and China’s Feng Shanshan finished on 15-under 273, after the latter stormed up the leaderboard with a final round 66.

“I’m at a loss for words right now,” Kim after her $200,000 victory.

“I’ve been through a lot. That has brought me some comfort knowing that with the downs come the highs.”

Before this week, Kim had only played in one other play-off – a defeat at the 2010 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic – and had only two top 10 finishes to her name this season.

Despite her eventual victory, Kim nearly threw away the five-stroke advantage she had built up over the first three rounds, including a bogey on the final hole to force the play-off, after Feng had birdied four holes on the back nine.

Four shots behind the leading two was world number one Park In-bee, who carded a final round 68 to finish in third place on 11-under.

Tied for fourth on nine-under were Brittany Lincicome (69) and Ryu So-Yeon (71), while last year’s winner Lexi Thompson shot a one-over 73 to finish tied for 15th at three-under.

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