Sei Young Kim Destroys LPGA Tour Scoring Record with Nine-Shot Victory

SEI YOUNG KIM destroyed the LPGA Tour scoring record when she won the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic with a staggering total of 257 - 31 under par.

Kim closed with a seven-under-par 65 for a nine-shot victory to break the record she had shared with Annika Sorenstam. Kim won the 2016 Founders Cup at 27 under, while Sorenstam won the 2001 Standard Register Ping at 27 under - that was the tournament during which the Swede shot 59.

The only blemish for Kim all week was a double bogey in the second round Friday. She had 31 birdies and one eagle, another record for most sub-par holes in a tournament. Kim hit 67 out of 72 greens in regulation.

Kim tied another Sorenstam record when she was 24 under through 54 holes. The South Korean reached 28 under with a tap-in birdie on the par-five ninth. She began the back nine with another birdie when her wedge from about 100 yards stopped a few feet from the hole, and she became the first to reach 30 under by making a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 12th.

"It's an incredible score, I never thought that I would shoot a 31-under score."

Sei Young Kim in her post-round interview with @BretLasky @thornberrylpga pic.twitter.com/nK8FnTb8Ja

— LPGA (@LPGA) July 9, 2018

Kim began the final round with an eight-shot lead and played magnificent golf all day. Amy Yang, who played with Kim in the final round, made an eagle at the third to get within six shots. But she dropped two shots at the par-five 15th when she hit one ball in the water and another into a hazard.

Carlota Ciganda of Spain lost a ball and made double bogey on the 18th hole but still shot a 64 to finish alone in second, nine shots behind. Yang, with a birdie on the final hole for a 68, tied for third at 20 under with Emma Talley and Anna Nordqvist, who each had a 67.

For all the birdies, Kim set the LPGA Tour record with a par on the final hole to finish at 257. Hee Young Park won a playoff after she and Angela Stanford each finished at 258 in the Manulife Classic in Canada in 2013 on a course that was a par 71, while Karen Stupples shot 258 at the Welch’s/Fry’s Championship in Arizona in 2004 but that course was a par 70.

Kim won for the first time this year and joined Brooke Henderson as the only players on the LPGA Tour with at least one victory in each of theist four seasons.