Can you believe it!
It was a wild finish to the Amundi Evian Championship, with Grace Kim – somehow, some way – emerging as the winner, capturing her very first major championship.
“I don’t know how it happened, really,” Kim said after an eagle-birdie-eagle finish to win on the second playoff hole against Jeeno Thitikul.
Thitikul, who has now notched top-5 finishes at two majors in a row, had a 98.6 percent win probability as she walked to the 18th tee in regulation, while Kim had a 0.3 percent win probability as she stepped to the 15th tee.
Two shots behind on the final hole, Kim hit a 4-hybrid to just two feet for an eagle and a 4-under 67 to force a playoff with Thitikul.
They both finished at 14 under for the week.
On the first playoff hole, again the par-5 18th, Kim’s approach bounced off a cart path, over some rocks and into the water. Thitikul, meanwhile, was in good position to make a birdie. But Kim pitched over the pond, across the green, and into the cup for the most unlikely of birdies.
“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. “Just happened to have chipped it in. I don’t know if I can do it again. That was great.”
On the next – and what would turn out to be the final – playoff hole, Kim hit her 4-hybrid, again, to 12 feet. Thitikul missed an eight-foot birdie putt for the win in regulation and on the final playoff hole ended up missing the green and chipping to five feet.
She never got to putt, however, as Kim rolled in her eagle for the win. It was Kim’s second triumph on the LPGA Tour, and her very first top-10 at a major.
Kim is the second straight golfer from Australian to win a major on the LPGA Tour, with Minjee Lee winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship a few weeks ago.
“It’s a huge achievement for me,” Kim said. “I’ve had a lot of doubts early this year. I was kind of losing motivation. I kind of had to get some hard conversations done with the team. Yeah, kind of had to wake up a little bit. So to be sitting here next to this trophy is definitely surreal.”
For a while through Sunday it seemed like we were on history’s doorstep as Lottie Woad – the game’s No.1-ranked amateur who was coming off a win at the Irish Women’s Open last week on the Ladies European Tour – had the lead on the back nine at one point and closed with a 64.
Woad was attempting to become the first amateur to win a major since Catherine Lacoste at the U.S. Women’s Open in 1967.
She ended up tying for third with Lee and, in the process, secured an LPGA Tour card for the rest of the year and all of next year if the soon-to-be senior at Florida State decides to turn professional. Her 72-hole score of 271 is the lowest by an amateur in the history of the Evian Championship – topping the previous low total by 10 shots.
Kim was the third first-time major winner this season and became the 18th different winner in 18 events on the LPGA Tour in 2025.
Golf Town Athlete Brooke Henderson is still gunning for her first LPGA Tour title of the year after finishing tied for 31st. She shot back-to-back rounds of 68 on the weekend in France.