Kim Sei-young hangs on for LPGA Lake Merced victory

SAN FRANCISCO, California: South Korea’s Kim Sei-young shook off a disastrous start to win the LPGA Mediheal Championship in a playoff Sunday, beating Bronte Law and Lee6 Jeong-eun with a birdie at the first extra hole.

Kim began the day with a three-shot lead at Lake Merced in Daly City, California. But she faltered early with a double-bogey at the first and a bogey at the second. She fell to six-under for the tournament with a bogey at the eighth, and Law and Lee were in the clubhouse on 281 before Kim made her first birdie of the day at the par-five 15th to join them on seven-under.

Kim surrendered her share of the lead with a bogey from a bunker at the par-three 17th, but forced her way into the playoff with a birdie at the par-five 18th, capping a three-over 75. The trio returned to the 18th, where all three found the fairway.

Lee — who uses the numeral 6 to distinguish herself from other players of the same name who played on the Korean ladies’ tour — put her second shot on the back of the green but couldn’t make birdie from there.

Law missed the green, and her third shot left her a mid-range birdie attempt which she missed. Kim’s playoff hole was almost a carbon copy of her birdie in regulation, her second shot landing just off the front of the green. Her putt from there left her a two-footer for a birdie.

The playoff came hours after England’s Law had completed her bogey free 65. Her five birdies included four in a row from the ninth through the 12th. She eagled the par-five 15th, where she stuck her second shot three feet from the pin.

Lee parred the first nine holes before playing the back nine in five-under. After a birdie at the 10th she eagled 15 and birdied 16, sealing her five-under 67 with a birdie at the 72nd hole. But it was Kim who emerged the winner, improving her LPGA playoff record to 4-0 as she captured her eighth tour title. “It was really frustrating because the beginning holes I had, like, double and a bogey,” she said. “I tried to keep going and focus.”