When it comes to majors in 2020, women’s golf began with an unknown major champion, and ended the year the exact same way. On Monday, A Lim Kim of South Korea, the 94th-ranked player in the world, just won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open from the Champions Golf Club in Houston. This comes almost four months after the 304th ranked player in the world, Sophia Popov of Germany, won the 2020 Women’s British Open from Royal Troon.
What Kim was able to do on Monday, was quite frankly, miraculous. While wearing a mask to protect herself from the horrendous coronavirus pandemic, Kim birdied the final three holes of the fourth round to move from even par to -3. This was good enough to win the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open, where she beat American Amy Olson and South Korean Jin Young Ko, by a stroke. The only other player under par was Japan’s Hinako Shibuno, who with a four-round score of -1.
There is a frequent saying in sports, that those with the most experience, more often than not, rise to the top. However, this was not the case on Monday, as Kim was participating in her very first major championship at 25 years of age. Kim’s victory also showed the world once again just how strong the LPGA of Korea Tour actually is. Kim, who is a two-time champion from her native country, is now 30th in the world (a rise of 64 spots) and has only played in one career major tournament.
What Kim also needs to be praised for was her fantastic comeback. Kim began her round at one-over-par, and was five back of Shibuno. She became the seventh player all-time to come back from five strokes down to win the U.S. Women’s Open. The tournament concluded on Monday instead of Sunday because of heavy rains.
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