South Korean Kim Sei-young leading the CME Group Tour Championship from the first round did not fail to win the last LPGA tournament of the 2019 season, securing her third title of the year and 10th in career and winning the jackpot of 1.5 million dollars, the largest prize in the history of women's golf. Céline Boutier, the only French present in this final, finished (47th to +1).

CME Group Tour: Sei-young Kim returns a putt at 1.5 million dollars

© Sei-Young Kim via Instagram

After an eight-meter long putt on the 72nd hole, Kim won, pocketing a record $ 1,5 million at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla. On Sunday. The final birdie allowed the South Korean to make one last lap at 70 (-2) for a total of four days at 270 (-18), one point better than the English Charley Hull 66 (-6) . American Danielle Kang finished at -16 (272) and, Nelly Korda, 71 (-1) finished 3rd.

Kim's victory earned South Korean female golfers 15 trophies in 2019, tying the record for most LPGA wins in a single season by local female players. The record was first set in 2015 before being tied in 2017.

Ji Eun-hee won the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions season opener in January, and Kim's title was the icing on the cake of a monumental season.

Kim, 26, is now the fourth South Korean to achieve double-digit LPGA Tour wins, following Pak Se-ri (25), Park In-bee (19) and Shin Ji-yai (11) . Of these three golfers, Pak is retired and Shin now plays on the Japanese Tour. Park, 31, has significantly reduced her participation in LPGA tournaments and has not won since March 2018.

"I knew she had to get there"said Paul Fusco, his caddy. “But I was never going to tell him. It would have created too much pressure. I wanted her to relax. It was his best chance to succeed. "

Kim's putt was as tight as he could, with all that money on the line, the tremendous pressure, she found the right speed in this spinning play, left to right.

"To earn $ 1,5 million by making this putt is quite incredible"said Nelly Korda, third tied with Kim in the five hours of tension, with Charley Hull and Danielle Kang also late. “It was an incredible end to the season. "

CME Group CEO Terry Duffy raised the bar on women's golf by setting up the $ 5 million purse and the winner's check.

"We believe in equality"said Duffy on Sunday. “We think it's the right thing to do. "

Duffy was as a star as Kim was afterwards. That first $ 1,5 million check was larger than the winner's check in 32 of 46 PGA Tour events during the 2018-19 season. It's mind boggling, considering the huge money difference in the men's and women's games. The PGA Tour featured over $ 410 million in bounties and bonuses last season. The LPGA has brought in $ 71 million this season.

" I am very grateful "said Kim about the efforts of Duffy and CME. “I think women's golf is on a good track. "

Another South Korean star, world number one Ko Jin-young, beat Kim in the wins standings and also finished with the lowest average score on the tour. Ko had already won the title of player of the year last month.

See the complete ranking of the CME Group Tour Championship: https://www.lpga.com/leaderboard

To consult our last article on this test:

CME Group Tour Championship, a final not to be missed