A Lim Kim wins the LOTTE Championship

It was a birdie battle for the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei on Saturday. But after 72 holes, Major champion A Lim Kim emerged victories with a two-shot victory at -18, earning her first Tour win since the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open title that made her an LPGA Tour Member.

Kim shot a four-under 68, her fourth consecutive round in the 60s, and went wire-to-wire for the first time in her career at Ewa Beach.

“My focus always same. Not focus on result. It's on my process and then routine and then thinking and choice my line and then go. Always process same as every week,” said Kim. “This is more better than last week, that reason more comfortable playing result, I think so.”

Winning final round for A Lim Kim

Kim started the final round with a one-shot lead over Nataliya Guseva, but dropped a shot on the second hole to make things interesting from the jump. A birdie on the third rectified the error on the card, and she went on to add two more birdies on five and six before yet another bogey on eight.

The 29-year-old, who credited sticking to her gameplan all week, reset heading into the turn, and made two solid birdies at 10 and 11 to get to -17 with seven holes to play. She headed to the 18th tee with a one-shot lead, and put a bow on it with a final birdie on the par-5 to seal the deal and win for the first time in over 1,400 days.

“On the course I feel like more fun. It was super fun,” said Kim. “I haven't felt this way in a long time so I just had a lot of fun.”

Best finish for Nataliya Guseva

Guseva put up a fight until the end, going toe-to-toe with Kim in her first final-round final grouping of her LPGA Tour career. After her own birdie-bogey start, she also added two more birdies on four and five before dropping a shot on the par-3 9th, a hole she had birdied the day before. Guseva notched two more birdies on the back nine but fell short being aggressive on the final hole and tied her career-best finish on the LPGA Tour.

“I really did my best out there. I never gave up. Every hole like I gave just my 100% and more than that,” said Guseva. “So, you know, it was just keep fighting. I know I still get the win out there, we still have two more events. I'm skipping Pelican, but hopefully CME I can also show a good result. I enjoyed it out there.”

Players vie for CME Group Tour Championship place

Auston Kim claimed her career-best result, solo third, after a bogey-free 67 on Saturday to end her week at -14 overall. The LPGA Tour rookie posted four of her five birdies in her first six holes, and stayed patient with pars until a final birdie on 18 to finish off a career-defining week. She enters the ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican projected at No. 64 in the Race to CME Globe, as she inches closer to potentially making her first appearance in the CME Group Tour Championship.

Nasa Hataoka recorded a solo fourth result at -14. Yuri Yoshida posted her first top-10 finish after claiming a tied fifth result alongside Ryann O’Toole (-13), who posted her best finish since the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship (2nd). Jin Young Ko, who will skip next week’s ANNIKA, will look to keep her consecutive season winning streak alive at the CME Group Tour Championship after finishing seventh at Hoakalei (-12). Lindy Duncan, who went from 105 to 91 in the Race to CME Globe this week, finished eighth at -11 while Angel Yin and Hyo Joo Kim rounded out the top 10 in a tie for ninth at -10.

Defending champion Grace Kim finished tied 11th (-8), while Hawaii native Malia Nam ended her hometown stand at four-over overall (63rd).

Angela Stanford's final LPGA Tour event

Angela Stanford, who cited this week as the final LPGA Tour stop of her career, finished in a tie for 26th and five-under, going out with her head held high.

“I had some really high highs and I had some really low lows. I got to play an Solheim Cups. I got to be assistant captain on Solheim Cups. So there is a lot to it. In 24 years there is a lot that's happened. I've seen a lot,” said Stanford. “You know, from 2001 until now that Tour has changed quite a bit. I'm grateful for that. I tee'd it up with Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon and Juli Inkster, and coming down to the end teeing up with Nelly and Lilia. So to just span all that time and to see all these great players Seri, Annika, Lorena, like all the great ones, I've been very fortunate to have such a long career and see all that.”

It's now onto the penultimate event of the season, The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican where players will be looking to make it into the Top 60 to take part in the season ending CME Group Tour Championship.