Sei Young Kim overcame a rough start and ended up winning Sunday's LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship on Merced Lake despite the cold and wind, beating Bronte Law and Jeongeun Lee6 with a birdie on the first playoff hole.

LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship: Sei Young Kim wins in the playoff

Sei Young Kim - Photo: DR

With three strokes ahead at the start of the day, Sei Young Kim started badly with a double bogey followed by another bogey and missed another shot on the 8. The 26-year-old South Korean birdie on on the 15th (a par-5) to join the leading pack. She retreated again with a bogey on the 17th par-3 and birdie on the 18th which will give her a place in the playoff, for a score of 75 (+3) on this final round of the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship with a total of 281 (-7).

"It was really hard", Kim commented. “All day I had a lot of pressure. And I missed the last par-3, and it was really bad for me. I was almost like my heart was on the verge of exploding. "

Law finished the round with a 65 card, finishing about 2 hours before Kim, and Lee6 had recorded a 67 card.

Kim won for the eighth time on the LPGA Tour, improving to 4-0 in the playoffs.

She almost resumed her regulation trajectory on the 18th hole in the playoff, almost sinking into her own clod of turf and hitting another 4-iron from 182 yards, 30cm closer than before in the right fringe of the front.

Law kept her approach short and fair and threw at 1m 82. Lee6's approach bounced off the middle of the green, allowing her to putt eagle 12 yards, which she touched from 1m 82 away. After Kim put in a 60cm putt, Law missed his birdie putt to the right, and Lee6's try went to the left. Kim put an end to it.

Law, the 24-year-old former England star at UCLA, missed an opportunity to tie the LPGA Tour record for the biggest comeback in 10 strokes.

"Obviously, the greens are quite bumpy at the moment, which makes things a bit difficult at the end", lamented Law. “I thought I had a good putt, but it didn't come in. It happens. "

She birdied five straight on six holes in the middle of the round and hit 7 under par with a 4-wood at 1,2m for an eagle in the 15th. She pared on the last three, canceled her scheduled flight and waited to see if she would win or participate in a play-off.

In the end, it's hard to wait that long, or even get back to the state of mind. "OK, I have to go out and play again", commented Law. "But it's part of the job. "

Lee6 played the last four holes under regulation in 4 under par, achieving a 3,65 m eagle on the 15th and birdies on the 16th and 18th.

"Not really satisfied with the three putts", Lee6 said through a translator.

The 22-year-old South Korean has a number in her name because she was the sixth player to have that name on the KLPGA. She kissed the number, reacted to it and wrote a capital "6" on her balls. His South Korean fan club is called "Lucky 6". Jeongeun Lee5 also plays on the LPGA Tour.

Lexi Thompson, Amy Yang, Eun-Hee Jiand and Charley Hull are tied for fourth place at 5 under par. Thompson, Yang, and Ji each signed a 71 card, and Hull rolled a 74. Hull eagle on the 15th to get close to a shot from the leader, then bogey on the 16th and did par on the last two holes of the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship.

Céline Boutier ends the Californian competition at (-1) and in the top 20 with a last card of 69 (287 in total). Karine Icher is far behind, but the former French no.1 was able to reassure herself by crossing her first cut of the season following her return from her second maternity.