- Hyo Joo Kim fires final round 69 (-3) to win by two shots in South Korea
- Home favourite holds off Sunday charge from Chiara Tamburlini to land second title of 2025
Home favourite Hyo Joo Kim produced a clinical display on Sunday at the Aramco Korea Championship to defend her title and land a second victory of 2025.
Heading into the final day one shot clear at New Korea Country Korea, the South Korean carded a 69 (-3) to withstand Chiara Tamburlini‘s valiant chase and win by two shots on seven-under par.
The victory is Kim’s 25th career win, third on the Ladies European Tour (LET), and second of 2025 after she won the Ford Championship on the LPGA. She successfully defends her title, the previously named Aramco Team Series – Korea, after claiming a three-shot victory last time out.
The World No 8 said: “As a winner of last year’s championship, people all around me kept telling me ‘you have to win this time as well.’ I had that in my mind the whole time. This brings back very great memories and I’m very thankful to my fans who all came out to support me. I think it’s a great win today.
“Golf is my job and it can be stressful. But thanks to my fans, I can really put down this stress and enjoy the game. I lived in the moment and really enjoyed it today. I’ll be celebrating with my family tonight.”
Having carded back-to-back rounds of 70 (-2) heading into Sunday, and playing in front of her fans, the shooting stars, Kim got off to a shaky start when she bogeyed the par-3 4th at New Korea Country Club.
Two groups ahead, LET Order of Merit winner Tamburlini started to pile on the pressure. The Swiss star rebounded from a bogey at the par-4 1st to card five birdies at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th and 9th to take the outright lead on five-under par.
Kim responded with a birdie at the par-4 6th before the key moment came early on in the back-nine, Tamburlini bogeying the 12th as Kim birdied the par-3 11th thanks to an excellent iron-shot to produce a two-shot swing.
Tamburlini responded with a brilliant bounce-back birdie at 13th, but Kim saw off the charge thanks to two clutch birdies at the 13th and 17th.
“Rather than focusing on the competition, I just tried to focus on my own game,” Kim said. “I did feel that my play was not as usual. I needed to bring my game up. My caddie even said, ‘are you nervous?’, because this was not normal. So I knew I needed to up my game on the back-nine. The 17th hole was one of key moments which really helped me win.”
Tamburlini, firing a final round 68 (-4), said: “Honestly, this one feels really good. After [missing the cut at The] Chevron [Championship], I was really beating myself up. I know it was just one week, and I had played well on the LET all of last year, but I was not feeling well.
“I had a lot of good conversations with my team and they helped build me back up. I think it’s a big part of this success today. It’s a massive confidence booster.”
In solo third on four-under par finished South Korean amateur Seojin Park. A member of her country’s national team, Park fired the round of the week 65 (-7) to shoot up the leaderboard on Sunday.
Four players finished fourth on three-under par, a quartet which includes France’s Perrine Delacour, South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace, Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd and Austria’s Emma Spitz.
German trio Aline Krauter, Chiara Noja and Polly Mack, as well as Australia’s Kelsey Bennett rounded off the top-10 in a tie for eighth on one-under par.
In the 2025 Order of Merit, Tamburlini, a three-time winner on Tour, jumps to fifth spot on 626.33 points thanks to her runner-up finish. England’s Mimi Rhodes now leads the way on 1,046.88 points. The rookie battled back well in Seoul to make the cut and end the week T40.
Next up on the LET is a trip to the Netherlands for the start of the Tour’s European swing, beginning with the Dutch Ladies Open.
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