Second LPGA Tour win at the JTBC Founders Cup

March 22, 2015 - Pressure doesn’t seem to faze 19-year-old Hyo Joo Kim. At least that’s the way it seems after the LPGA Tour rookie delivered a masterful display in Sunday’s final round of the JTBC Founders Cup, shooting a 5-under 67 to defeat Stacy Lewis by three strokes and capture her second LPGA Tour win.

Kim burst onto the LPGA scene at last year’s Evian Championship. A member of the KLPGA at the time, Kim outdueled LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame member Karrie Webb as she sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to defeat Webb by one and capture her first LPGA win and her first major championship. It was also the first major championship that Kim had ever competed in on the LPGA Tour.

On Sunday, Kim was paired in the final group with another top player in the women’s game – Rolex Rankings No. 3 Stacy Lewis – and once again she didn’t seem to flinch when the pressure was on her. After a bogey on the 10th hole where a ruling didn’t go the way she had hoped, Kim bounced back with three straight birdies. Despite Lewis putting the pressure on Kim with a stretch of four birdies in five holes from No. 12 to No. 16, Kim kept making birdies of her own en route to shooting a 4-under 32 on the back nine. And even with just a one-shot lead heading into the final hole, Kim didn’t seem to be affected by the pressure as she made birdie to clinch her victory.

“It’s impossible not to feel a little pressure or nervous, especially when your playing partner is playing so well,” Kim said through a translator. “If anything, I think the situation on hole 10 helped because after I went through there and I got a bogey, I just realized there’s no time to feel pressure or feel afraid. I’ve just got to go out there and play.”

With her victory at the JTBC Founders Cup that made her a Rolex First-Time Winner, Kim is projected to move to No. 4 in the Rolex Rankings. The 19-year-old may just be a rookie on the LPGA Tour but she’s already gaining a lot of respect for her game from her fellow competitors.

“She’s just really solid,” Lewis said of Kim after Sunday’s round. “Kind of had to battle back from some adversity there on 10. But just really solid. On the front, I didn’t put much pressure on her but even when I did make some putts, she made the putts to follow and she put a lot of pressure on and was just really solid all day.”

Hyo Joo Kim wins JTBC Founders Cup

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