Grace Kim uses epic finish to win Evian Championship for 1st major title

Grace Kim is golf’s latest major champion — and she claimed her title in epic fashion.

Standing in the fairway of the par-5 18th hole at Evian Resort, Kim stood two shots off the lead of Jeeno Thitikul. With 190 yards between her and the flagstick, Kim knew she would need something special to keep her hopes of her first major title alive.

Her next swing delivered on that necessity — and then some.

With a hybrid in hand and her ball below her feet, Kim hit the shot of a lifetime as her ball bounced just past the pin and then rolled back down the slope to within a foot of the cup to set up an easy tap-in eagle to push her score to 14 under.

Kim’s theatrics were far from finished, though.

On the first playoff hole, the 24-year-old’s approach found the hazard near the green. Once again, it looked as though her major-title aspirations were hanging on by a thread. Once again, Kim managed to deliver in the biggest way.

This time, it was her wedge that provided the fireworks. With a clean lie in the penalty area, the young Aussie was able to get solid contact on the ball and bounce her chip onto the green and into the hole for an improbable birdie that extended the playoff.

“I said to myself and to my caddie, I’ve got nothing else to lose,” Kim said. “That chip-in, yeah, don’t know. That just happened.”

On the following playoff hole, Kim once again came through in the clutch. After splitting the fairway with her drive, she pulled her 4 hybrid from the bag and unleashed yet another epic approach, this time watching as her ball settled within 15 feet of the cup.

Moments later, Kim addressed the ball and struck the most consequential putt of her life. It never left the center of the cup.

“I couldn’t breathe,” Kim said. “I couldn’t really see. I was like is it dead straight? Yeah. I’m hitting the putt. Glad it went in the hole.”

With the victory, Kim becomes the fifth Australian woman to win a major, joining Jan Stephenson, Karrie Webb, Hannah Green and Minjee Lee, who claimed her third major title last month at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

“I started the week saying worrying is just really doubting my preparation, my work, the work that my team put in,” Kim said. “I really just tried to back myself all four rounds and obviously I’ve never — I don’t think I’ve shot as well as I have this week ever, so that mentality works.”

If she can maintain that mentality, it likely won’t be the last time we see Kim deliver on the biggest stage.