Kim strolls to victory at The Ascendant LPGA
Sports
South Korea's Kim Hyo-joo strolled to a wire-to-wire victory at The Ascendant LPGA in Texas
Los Angeles (AFP) – South Korea's Kim Hyo-joo strolled to a wire-to-wire victory at The Ascendant LPGA in Texas on Sunday, shooting a two-under-par 69 to win by four strokes.
The 28-year-old world number seven had opened up a commanding five-shot lead after Saturday's third round at The Colony in Dallas and never looked in danger of surrendering that cushion on Sunday.
Kim reached the turn at one under for the round, 12 under overall, after two birdies and one bogey on the front nine.
A bogey on the 11th dropped her back to 11 under, but two more birdies on the 14th and 17th holes ensured victory by four shots with a 13 under aggregate of 271. Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines and Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul shared second place on nine under.
Pagdanganan and Atthaya both shot six-under-par 65s to close. Pagdanganan's final round included six birdies on the back nine but the 25-year-old from Quezon City was unable to close the gap on leader Kim.
Atthaya was similarly impressive down the stretch, making five birdies in her final seven holes to march up the leaderboard.
Australia's Sarah Kemp finished fourth on eight under par after a closing 69 while Lexi Thompson was alone in fifth on seven under after a one-under-par 70.
Thompson's final round came as she prepares to play on the men's PGA Tour in Las Vegas next week. The American star believes she will need to make significant improvements in all areas in Nevada next week.
Asked what part of her game she needed to work on, Thompson replied: "Everything really. My ball striking, I'll definitely need my top game going into next week."
