Every time the third round — known as "Moving Day" — arrives, Kim Hyo-joo catches fire with her best scores. She builds a commanding lead in the third round, then shifts to crisis management in the final round, protecting her position with steady play. That is the "winning formula" Kim demonstrated as she achieved her first career multi-win season, consecutive victories, and back-to-back title defense since joining the LPGA Tour.
Kim shot a four-round total of 28-under-par 260 at the LPGA Tour Ford Championship (total purse $2.25 million) at Whirlwind Golf Club (par 72) in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, finishing two strokes ahead of runner-up Nelly Korda of the United States (26-under) to claim the title. It was her ninth career LPGA Tour victory, earning her $337,500 (approximately 510 million won) in prize money.
Kim, who burst onto the scene by winning the Evian Championship as a non-member in 2014 before joining the LPGA Tour full-time the following year, set several meaningful personal firsts with this victory. After claiming her first win of the season at the Founders Cup last week, she became a back-to-back weekly winner for the first time in her LPGA Tour career. She also successfully defended her Ford Championship title from last year. This marks the first time Kim has recorded two or more victories in a single season.
Entering her prime 11 years into her LPGA career, Kim is expected to climb the world rankings as well. Currently ranked fourth — a career high — she is projected to move up once this week's results are reflected. Charley Hull of England, currently ranked third, missed the cut at this event. If Kim maintains her current form, she could not only crack the world's top three but also challenge Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand for the No. 1 spot.
Kim's victory also extended a remarkable streak for the Korean contingent on the LPGA Tour. Following Lee Mi-hyang's win at the Blue Bay LPGA last month, Kim swept the Founders Cup and this week's event to make it three consecutive tournament victories by Korean players. It is the first time Korean golfers have won three straight LPGA Tour events since February–March 2019, when Yang Hee-young (Honda LPGA Thailand), Park Sung-hyun (HSBC Women's World Championship), and Ko Jin-young (Founders Cup) achieved the feat.
