Grace Kim wins her first major in dramatic fashion — Hear from Gina Kim after her third win of 2025
The IX: Golf Thursday with Marin Dremock, July 17, 2025
Welcome back to Golf Thursday, everyone! Did you catch the playoff finale of the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship? If not, I’m so sorry. It was definitely a top 10 sports moment of all time. Grace Kim won her first major championship with an eagle on the second playoff hole against world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul.
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But let’s back up a little bit. Kim’s final round was a highlight reel through and through. Although she started the day with two bogeys, she quickly found her stride with a hole-out eagle on No. 7 and a birdie on No. 9 to close out the front nine. Kim’s shot on the par-5 seventh hole was a stunner: She splashed the perfect shot out of a greenside bunker, and it rolled out like a putt into the heart of the hole.
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Then a double bogey on the par-4 12th put Kim back to 10-under, three shots back of playing partner Thitikul. Kim persevered and stuck two iron shots close on holes 15 and 16 for back-to-back birdies. She popped back up to 12-under, just one shot back of Thitikul.
Thitikul birdied the 17th hole, reaching 14 under par and gaining what seemed to be a comfortable lead going into the reachable par-5 18th hole. Kim needed an eagle to force a playoff with Thitikul, and she needed to hope that Thitikul didn’t birdie or eagle the last as well.
Enter the hybrid shot heard round the world:
Kim played the backstop of the green perfectly to set herself up with a mere tap-in for eagle. And the shot got even better when Thitikul came out of the 18th with only a par. Two players both on the hunt for their first major championship were playoff bound.
Sent back to the 18th tee for the fifth time of the week (maybe more if practice rounds were played), both players hit exceptional drives. The tee shot is intimidating; tall trees frame a narrow view and an uphill-to-downhill fairway layout obscures the target landing area. Thitikul’s drive landed perfectly and rolled out to the right center of the fairway. Kim left her drive a little out to the right, and it just rolled into the first cut.
Kim’s lie wasn’t awful, but the ball was just below her feet, causing a bit of room for her to leave her swing slightly open. And she did, allowing her hybrid shot to fade too far right. It took a hard bounce in the grass to the right of the green and plopped into the small, pond-like penalty area.
By the look on Kim’s face, the Amundi Evian Championship was inches away from Thitikul’s grasp. Thitikul got a bit aggressive as well, striking her 6-iron just left of the green but avoiding a difficult greenside bunker shot. She had an up-and-down for birdie left to win the trophy.
But Kim was not to be struck down that easily.
After taking a penalty stroke and dropping her ball where it bounced behind the penalty area, Kim was left with a shot she had to hole out to give herself a chance at extending the playoff.
What Kim did next was miraculous. Logic says chip it close and tap in for par to leave the pressure on Thitikul to make birdie from a difficult chip. But Kim holed the chip. It was the most perfectly placed pitch, landing on just the right part of the green that allowed the ball to roll out and drop in the hole. Fans around the 18th green went crazy. Kim threw her hands in the air, a look of pure joy on her face.
“Yeah, I wasn’t worried. Dropped the ball and it kind of ended up in a pretty decent lie and just wanted to make sure I got it there,” Kim said in a post-tournament press conference. “Yeah, just happened to have chipped it in. I don’t know if I can do it again. That was great.”
The energy in the air at Evian Resort shifted the moment Kim’s ball hit the bottom of the cup. Kim was now the player riding with momentum heading into the all-but-guaranteed extension of the playoff. But Thitikul stayed calm; placed her chip shot to about 10 feet; and, in ice-cold fashion, sunk the tying birdie putt. Back to the 18th tee they went.
On the tee of the second playoff hole, Kim didn’t hesitate to find the fairway, and Thitikul hit a carbon copy of her tee shot from the previous hole. Both players strode to their perfectly placed golf balls, prepared to make some magic happen.
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Kim was away, taking that patented 4-hybrid out of her bag and going for the shot she executed in regulation on this very hole. It wasn’t quite as close, but Kim stuck her shot to around 20 feet. Considering she had to back off of her shot because of some loud spectators, the fact that she was able to stay calm and focused to hit the middle of the green was very impressive. That’s all she needed: a chance to make an eagle putt to win the Amundi Evian Championship.
Thitikul again pulled her 6-iron and again hit a carbon copy of her shot from the first playoff hole. It was looking good for Kim, but a two-putt from her and an up-and-down from Thitikul was still very much in the cards.
Thitikul chipped on, leaving herself a 6-footer and hoping to have a chance to extend the playoff further. But Kim could not be denied. She calmly rolled in her eagle putt to end the playoff and win her first major championship.
“Yeah, I think I’ve had a lot of double breakers this week and that was one of them for sure. Yeah, just looked straight at the hole,” Kim said of that final eagle putt. “That’s what my caddie told me to do and I did it.”
After a classy hug from Thitikul, Kim was showered with champagne by compatriot Minjee Lee and congratulated by other friends off the 18th green.
With this win, Kim became the second Australian to win the Amundi Evian Championship. She also became the fifth Australian to win a major championship, joining some legendary company from Down Under. Kim joined Lee as the second Australian to win a major in 2025, marking the first time two Australians have won majors in one season on both the men’s and women’s tours. It’s been a big year for the Aussies.
It could be an even bigger year for the Aussies if Lee completes the Career Grand Slam three weekends from now at the 2025 AIG Women’s Open. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
See you next week, golf fans.
This week in women’s golf
LPGA news
Hannah Darling to make professional debut at ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open
Woad to the LPGA: Take a look at how Lottie Woad earned her 20 LEAP points
Grace Kim earns first major championship victory, earns points in Rolex ANNIKA Major Award standings
In good Graces: Australia’s Kim becomes first-time major winner at The Amundi Evian Championship
LET news
Hull headlines stellar line-up at PIF Global Series in London
Top women’s golf returns at the 6th VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open in Holzhäusern
Sponsor invitations announced as 2025 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open welcomes rising talent
Mauritius to host LET tournament for first time in 2026
Australian WPGA Championship and Festival of Golf to return to the Gold Coast
PIF London Championship set for standout participation from English stars
Nadaud goes low in round two in first major appearance
Briem, Alexander, and Gainer flying high on Evian debuts
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Epson Tour news
Three things to know about the Casella Golf Championship
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Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship presented by Munich Re tools of a winner: Gina Kim
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Amateur/girls/NCAA news
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Lottie Woad becomes eligible for LPGA membership through the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway
Woad watch: Lottie Woad secures 19th LEAP point with made cut at Amundi Evian Championship
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Five at The IX: Gina Kim captures her third victory of the 2025 Epson Tour season
On Sunday, Gina Kim solidified her trip to the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells with her third win of the 2025 season. She captured the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship title by a staggering six strokes over Camille Boyd and Melanie Green.
Kim shot a final-round 68 (-4) on her way to a wire-to-wire victory. Although she bogeyed the first hole of the day, she quickly settled into a 3-under 33 on the front nine. Her birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 15 helped her back to 4 under par for the day and 14-under for the tournament. This was enough to keep a dominant lead ahead of the rest of the field and snag the win.
Here’s what Kim had to say in her post-tournament press conference.
Q: We are here with Gina Kim, the champion of the Hartford Health Care Women’s Championship presented by Munich Re. So, Gina, you started off this week tying the 18-hole tournament record, and now it’s Sunday afternoon and you’ve won your third tournament of the 2025 season. So how does it feel?
GINA KIM: Oh, it feels great. It feels good to see my hard work pay off, which isn’t something you see often. So I’m obviously thankful to my team, my mom who’s been on the bag, and God for just aligning everything together and helping me win this thing.
Q: You started off with a bogey today, and then you went on a birdie streak. Do you think that your bogey on the first hole kind of helped you settle into the round?
KIM: Yeah, I think I personally feel like it’s maybe a bit counterintuitive after the bogey. I actually loosened up a bit, and I think just getting that out of the system, and it helped me reset and refocus back into my process. So it’s been good.
Q: You led this tournament wire-to-wire, so how does this win compare to your other two this season?
KIM: I think this one holds a lot more weight to me, just knowing that I managed to finish wire-to-wire. Obviously, there was pressure every day, but the fact that I was able to come out and stay on top of it, even after a day like yesterday, where it was a little bit more of a roller coaster. So it obviously feels great. It feels good to come back after yesterday and make a lot of birdies and get back into the swing of things, so it feels awesome.
Q: So you have three wins this season, and we’re only in the middle of July, so what do you think has been the most rewarding part of your season so far?
KIM: Mentally, I’m in a lot better place. Last year, I was fighting putting demons. And surprisingly, my putting was my strongest suit this week. So just seeing that improvement, just seeing myself getting better every day, just like my coach would always tell me, that was the most satisfying part, knowing that I was able to overcome the struggles that I faced last year. And just seeing myself come out on the other side of it, I feel really blessed.
Q: How are you going to use this win this week to kind of [build] momentum for the rest of the Northeast stretch?
KIM: Obviously, I’d like to set a record for most wins in a season. We’ll see if that happens. I don’t know. But I think this isn’t the end. I’ve got to keep pushing, keep getting better. And so hopefully, maybe we can pop out a few more dubs before the season ends. I’d like to do that.
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