Kim Hyoju's 'Wire-to-Wire Victory'... "6th Career Win"

Ascendant LPGA 4R 2-Under Par 4-Shot Lead Cheers
First Victory in 1 Year 6 Months, Korea's 4 Wins This Year
Titikun and Pagdanganan Tied for 2nd, Yoo So-yeon 7th

World No. 7 Kim Hyo-joo secured a 'wire-to-wire' victory.

On the 8th (local time), at the Old American Golf Club (par 71, 6,475 yards) in The Colony, Texas, USA, Kim added 2 under par in the final round of the Ascendant LPGA Benefiting VOA (total prize money $1.8 million) on the LPGA Tour to complete a dominant 4-stroke victory (13 under par 271). This marks her 6th career win, her first in 1 year and 6 months since the Lotte Championship last April, with a winner's prize of $270,000 (approximately 360 million KRW). Following Yeo Hae-ran's win at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship last week, Korea achieved back-to-back victories and their 4th win of the season.

Kim Hyo-joo is teeing off at the 4th hole of the 4th round of the Ascendant LPGA Benefiting VOA. [The Colony, USA=AFP·Yonhap News]

Kim Hyo-joo started with a 5-stroke lead and recorded 4 birdies and 2 bogeys. On 13 holes, she exchanged 2 birdies for 2 bogeys, struggling to reduce her score further. At the 16th hole, she was chased down to a 3-stroke lead by Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand), who shot 5 under par. However, Kim regained her composure with a birdie on the most difficult 14th hole (par 4) and added another birdie on the 17th hole (par 5) to maintain her top position. This tournament was a perfect victory, leading the leaderboard for all four days.

Last year's Rookie of the Year, Thitikul, swept up 7 birdies (including 3 consecutive birdies) with only 1 bogey. She jumped from a tie for 8th place the previous day to a tie for 2nd place (9 under par 275). Bianca Pagdanganan (Philippines) also joined this group by shooting 6 under par. Sarah Kemp (Australia), who was tied for 2nd the previous day, finished 4th (8 under par 276), and Lexi Thompson (USA) was satisfied with 5th place (7 under par 277).

Veteran Yoo So-yeon of Korea finished tied for 7th (5 under par 279), her best personal result this season. Three-time winner C?line Boutier (France) placed tied for 13th (3 under par 281). Lee Jeong-eun 6 and Shin Ji-eun tied for 24th (even par 284), 'eldest sister' Ji Eun-hee tied for 29th (1 over par 285), and Kim A-rim finished tied for 31st (2 over par 286). Defending champion Charley Hull (England) ended up tied for 49th (5 over par 289).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.