Kim Hyo-joo tops Lilia Vu in play-off to win LPGA Ford Championship
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Kim Hyo-joo of South Korea lines up the putt on 18th in the play-off to win the Ford Championship over Lilia Vu.
PHOTO: AFP
LOS ANGELES – Despite being stressed about her game in general, Kim Hyo-joo rolled in a six-foot birdie putt at the first play-off hole to win the LPGA Ford Championship on March 30 ahead of American Lilia Vu.
The South Korean had nine birdies in her eight-under 64, the lowest round of the day at the Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona, taking her to a 22-under total of 266.
Overnight leader Vu carded a 68, but when they returned to the par-four 18th for the play-off, Kim put her approach six feet from the pin while Vu left herself more than 15 feet. The American’s putt came up short and Kim sank hers to claim her seventh LPGA victory, and her first since 2023.
“It’s been a while since I had any wins, so I was getting a little bit stressed,” the 29-year-old Kim admitted.
“But I did work out a lot during the winter time, so now that I have a win I’m a little bit light-hearted. The feeling was great today. I just thought one birdie at a time.”
Having started the day four shots off Vu’s lead, she had seven birdies in the first 11 holes to seize the solo lead on 21 under. However, she found the water off the tee at 12th on the way to a bogey, missing a short par-save attempt.
Kim then drained a birdie putt from off the green at 16th and added another birdie at 17th to land in the clubhouse with a one-stroke lead.
But Vu got up and down for birdie from a greenside bunker at the 17th, blasting out of the sand to about a foot.
Vu, who had endured a long wait for the green to clear at 17th, had another tense delay on the 18th tee as Nanna Koerstz Madsen searched for her ball in the scrub.
Vu’s second shot bounded past the green but the two-time Major winner and former world No. 1 chipped to about six feet and holed the par putt to force a play-off.
Kim had been waiting and watching as Vu finished her round.
“I kept on thinking we might go on a play-off, so I kept stretching. I thought I would be very nervous, but I really wasn’t,” she said.
Vu, who missed three months in 2024 with a back injury that still troubles her, was pleased with her week, despite the play-off disappointment.
“I’m proud that I kind of stuck to my goal, my weekly goal. The only goal is to be in tune with my body. This is probably the most I’ve felt like me in the past year and a half,” she said. AFP
