"It's too bad."' Kim Hyo-joo failed to win 3 consecutive LPGA titles... Aramco Championship Final 13th place

*This content was translated by AI.

It is a disappointing failure to win three consecutive championships. Kim Hyo-joo (31, Lotte), who challenged the milestone of winning three consecutive tournaments for the first time in 13 years on the LPGA Tour, failed to overcome the mid-tournament crisis.

Kim Hyo-joo marked an even-par 72 by exchanging four birdies and four bogeys in the final fourth round of the LPGA Tour Aramco Championship (total prize money of $4 million) at Shadow Creek Golf Course (par 72) in Las Vegas, Nevada on the 6th (Korea time).

With this, Kim Hyo-joo finished the competition in 13th place with a total of 4 over par 292.

Earlier this season, Kim Hyo-joo saw an all-time rise. Last month, he won the Fortinet Founders Cup and the Ford Championship in a row, sweeping the top spot in major categories such as season prize money and player of the year points. In this competition, he aimed for his first three consecutive wins as a historic individual.

If Kim Hyo-joo wins this tournament, she will be able to build a golden tower of winning three consecutive championships in 13 years since Park In-bee in 2013. It was also the sixth opportunity for Korean players to gain 10 wins on the LPGA Tour after Pak Se-ri, Park In-bee, Ko Jin-young, Kim Se-young and Shin Ji-ae.

He also had good momentum in the first round. Kim Hyo-joo started tied for fourth by hitting four under par in the first round and remained tied for second until the second round, raising expectations for her to achieve a milestone in 13 years since Park In-bee.

However, the third round, which was the final destination, was painful. Kim Hyo-joo lost as many as seven shots in the third round held the previous day, moving away from the lead. On the last day, he succeeded in rebounding by keeping the number of strokes with even par and ranked highest among Korean players, achieving a successful conclusion.

The trophy went to Lauren Coughlin of the U.S. Coughlin had a 7-under 281 total to win the wire-to-wire title, beating second-place Nelly Korda of the U.S. and Leona Maguire of Ireland by five shots. It is his third career win in about a year and eight months after his two wins in 2024.

Meanwhile, Koda, who competed with Kim Hyo-joo for the past two weeks, left the record of being runner-up for the third consecutive week.

None of the other Korean players made it to the top 10. Yoon Na-na tied for 17th with Shin Ji-eun with a total of 6 over 294. Yoon Na-na, who tied for sixth place last week, sought to enter the top 10 for the second consecutive week, but unfortunately failed in this competition.

Choi Hye-jin then tied for 23rd (7 over par) and Ko Jin-young tied for 27th (8 over par). Hwang Yoo-min and Im Jin-hee finished the tournament tied for 35th (9th) and Lee So-mi finished 40th (10th).

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*This content was translated by AI.