NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA – Friday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Sei Young Kim was true to form. The player who holds the 72-hole scoring record on the LPGA Tour, mounted a second-round comeback as she followed an opening round 1-over par 71 with a 5-under par, 65 to take the outright lead heading into the weekend at Aronimink Golf Club. Kim recorded four consecutive birdies over her second nine, she began her day on the back. A critical birdie on her final hole of the day broke her out of a pack, which she now leads by one at 4-under par.
“I tried to focus on my game,” Kim said Friday. “Honestly, I didn't look at the leaderboard. I was in a good momentum, so I just wanted to ride on that.”
Kim has made just five starts on the LPGA Tour in 2020. She returned home to Korea during the Tour’s break due to COVID-19 and only returned to the Tour in August. But in her return she was true to form. She finished fifth in Arkansas in her first LPGA Tour start in eight months.
“I didn't give any significant changes to my game,” Kim said about how she spent her time during the break. “I played a few events in Korea and tried to just maintain the golfing game while I was off. But I didn't put any changes in my game.”
The Korean is one of the top ranked players in the world yet to win a major title, as she’s currently ranked No. 7 in the Rolex Rankings. A major victory would be the next natural step for Kim who earned Rookie of the Year honors when she captured three victories in her first season on Tour. Now in her sixth season on the LPGA Tour, she owns 10 victories, including that impressive win at the 2019 CME Group Tour Championship.
In 2019, it was Kim who took home the biggest prize in the history of the LPGA Tour. She won the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship to take home $1.5 million dollars and held the huge cardboard check to commemorate her historic payday. Sunday, she’s looking to hold another huge prize in her hands in hoisting her first major trophy.
“It's always my goal,” Kim said.
