Sei Young Kim’s dramatic victory at the CME Group Tour Championship over the weekend placed the 26-year-old in elite company as the fourth Korean player with at least 10 LPGA wins, joining Se Ri Pak (25), Inbee Park (19) and Jiyai Shin (11).
Kim clinched the title with a 25-foot birdie on the final hole at Tiburon Golf Club to pocket US$1.5 million, the richest prize in the history of women’s golf. She finished on 18-under-par, one shot ahead of England’s Charley Hull, for a wire-to-wire victory and her third LPGA Tour title of the year.
Instead of a US$500,000 first-place check and a US$1 million bonus to a season points race, CME Globe wanted to award US$1.5 million in official money to the winner of the season finale. That’s US$500,000 more than the previous record prize of US$1 million at the U.S. Women’s Open.
“It means a lot to me just knowing that I just won the biggest purse in women’s golf history. That itself is an incredible honor,” said Kim, who was the 2015 LPGA Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year.
Meanwhile, Kim’s compatriot Jin Young Ko captured the 2019 LPGA Official Money title with US$2,773,894, after finishing tied for 11th and earning US$59,613.
Ko also won the 2019 Vare Trophy for best scoring average with 69.052, the second-lowest Vare Trophy-winning average behind Annika Sorenstam’s 68.697 in in 2002. Sorenstam also returned lower averages in 2004 (68.697) and 2003 (69.0167) but did not meet the 70-round requirement to qualify for the award.
