(Reuters) – Kim Sei-young sank a 25-foot birdie putt at the final hole to win the CME Group Tour Championship and the biggest prize in women’s golf, $1.5 million in Florida on Sunday.
After leading for almost the entire tournament, Kim nearly blew it before coming through in unlikely circumstances at the par-four 18th, where her downhill putt broke deliciously to the right and trickled in.
The South Korean carded two-under-par 70 to win by one stroke from England’s Charley Hull, who almost stole the tournament with five birdies in the final seven holes for a 66 at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples.
Kim finished at 18-under 270 in the season-ending event for her 10th LPGA victory at the age of 26.
Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Christian Radnedge