Australian golf great Karrie Webb credited with helping next generation of major winners
Kim produced a round for the ages to recover from a four-shot deficit and clinch a dramatic play-off victory at the Evian Championship in France.
The 24-year-old joined Webb, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Jan Stephenson as only Australia's fifth female major winner.
Kim's epic victory also secured Australia a second-straight major after Lee won the Women's PGA Championship only three weeks ago.
Major title winners
* Then known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship
** No longer a major
*** Then known as the LPGA Championship
Former professional Karen Lunn, the WPGA Tour of Australasia chief executive, is predicting an Australian could also win the Women's British Open that gets underway at Royal Porthcawl on July 31.
As well as Kim's remarkable run, world number six Lee finished in a tie for third just one shot behind, while Gabi Ruffels was co-leader heading into the final round before finishing joint ninth.
Throw in 2024 Evian runner-up Steph Kyriacou, who finished 14th, and 2019 Women's PGA Championship winner Green, and Australia has five genuine contenders to win the fifth major of the year.
Only the dominant South Korean contingent has been able to conjure three successive victories in a calendar year in the current five-major era; in 2020 and in 2013, when Inbee Park won three in succession.
"It can get really, really windy there. But all of our girls, they've grown up in Australia playing in a lot of wind … so they're more than capable of handling the tough conditions," Lunn said.
"And when the conditions are tough, you need a good short game, and you know Gracie's got one of the best and obviously Minjee is putting so much better with a long putter this year.
"It's not beyond the real possibility that we could get three-straight majors."
Lunn credits the golden generation coming through with all having ties to seven-time major winner Webb.
Kim was a four-time winner of Webb's scholarship, which gave her the chance to learn from Australia's greatest champion, with Green, Lee and Ruffels also spending a week with the Hall of Famer as part of the prize.
"She brings two players to a major championship and they all have dinner with the other Australian players who are playing," Lunn said of 50-year-old Webb.
"Grace Kim was a part of that and, when Hannah won her major (in 2019), Grace was one of the scholarship holders that week and was one of the first to run on the green and congratulate Hannah.
"Karrie is a mentor and they've all got her phone number and she's at the end of the line whenever they needed advice on anything.
"Even though she's retired from playing she's still incredibly involved and I know she was glued to the TV and would've just been so thrilled and so proud of Grace's win."
Lunn says the Australians on the LPGA Tour are like a family, often sharing lodging and meals together, and are regularly seen on the side of the green ready to celebrate or commiserate with their contending compatriots.
"It's a little bit infectious — they're feeding off each other's success," Lunn said.
"Hannah missed the cut this week but she was one of the ones there celebrating with Grace.
"Hannah, she's not playing her best golf, but she'll get a big boost seeing Grace win."
And with all but Lee and Green aged under 25 and a number of other young rising stars, the glory days could continue for some time.
"This next generation are coming into the prime of their golfing career so those names are going to be there for a long, long time."
AAP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Wighton cops four-game ban in a huge blow for the Rabbitohs
Wayne Bennett's hopes of avoiding his first wooden spoon have taken a massive hit with veteran playmaker Jack Wighton slapped with a whopping four-match ban after he was found guilty of a grade two shoulder charge at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night. The Rabbitohs have lost eight in a row and head into round 22 in last spot behind the Knights and Titans on points differential, but their hopes of causing a gigantic boilover against the Broncos have copped a devastating blow with their five-eighth sidelined. He joins a host of stars who are missing for the club including Cam Murray, Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker. Wighton could have accepted a three-match ban for the grade two charge that saw him sent to the sin bin for a tackle that knocked out Cronulla's Toby Rudolf on Saturday night but rolled the dice after he pleaded not guilty. The panel of Greg McCallum and Bob Lindner listened to the 75-minute hearing and deliberated for just 15 minutes before they unanimously found him guilty. 'It was a fair hearing,' Wighton said afterwards. 'We came here thinking we had a good case. We didn't get the result we wanted. 'I'll turn my attention to preparing my teammates and really helping everyone at my club the best way I can.' It was a reunion of sorts between Wighton and judiciary counsel Patrick Knowles, with the five-eighth asking him 'how many games of rugby league have you played?' during a fiery hearing in 2023 when he was banned for three matches for biting. Wighton didn't give evidence on this occasion, a point not lost on Knowles who suggested he could have explained why there were no other options available to him to make a different type of tackle. However, judiciary chairman Geoff Bellew reminded the panel that Wighton had no obligation to justify. Knowles described the contact as a 'textbook example of a shoulder charge' and that he twisted his body, the right shoulder led the forceful contact and that his left arm raised in a bracing motion but didn't attempt to wrap. 'The amount of force generated in a tackle that used no arms carries a significant risk of injury,' he said. 'The shoulder was the first impact and carried the primary degree of force.' Prominent Sydney lawyer Nick Ghabar represented Wighton and argued it was 'quite wrong' to suggest he propped and drove with the shoulder and that he did his best to avoid a head on collision. Ghabar argued that the right arm wrapped around Rudolf's left arm before contact and that the Cronulla forward generated the force by leading with his head and arms. 'Rudolf stepped 'violently' off his left foot,' he said, arguing that it was inevitable that there'd be a more violent collision if Wighton hadn't dipped his body. 'Wighton drops his body height to avoid the risk of a head clash. He's got a split second decision to make. He's attempting to tackle with his left arm but his right arm doesn't have the ability to swing around the back of Rudolf.' The referee's report from Belinda Sharpe included a quote from Wighton that said 'I couldn't get my arm out', while the medical report said the injury was caused by a 'head clash from opponent'. Ghabar suggested that the first contact was shoulder on shoulder, but that played into the argument it was an actual shoulder charge. Knowles refuted a number of those arguments and pointed out Wighton's right fist was clenched so it couldn't have been a conventional wrapping tackle and that he could've twisted the other way and made a conventional left shoulder tackle. Ghabar sought a downgrade that would have seen Wighton miss two matches, but it was dismissed after Knowles argued the force was moderate, it was careless and the risk of injury was moderate and that the risk came to fruition. Wighton will miss matches against the Broncos, Titans, Eels and Dragons and will return in the final round against the Roosters, with Lewis Dodd likely to start in the halves.
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Community fights Singapore-style makeover for Mt Coot-tha
The Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games are seven years away but the city is already planning for its moment in the global spotlight. But some plans to refresh local icons have locals concerned. Antonia O'Flaherty reports.
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
F1 great Martin Brundle's belated praise for Oscar Piastri GP win
F1 commentator Martin Brundle has belatedly praised Oscar Piastri for his latest Grand Prix victory and made a call on the 2025 world title battle. Starting from second on the grid, Piastri won the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris, with the Aussie extending his championship lead to 16 points. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Many fans were left fuming, however, as the Sky Sports broadcast once again focused predominantly on Englishman Norris, rather than his race-winning stable mate. With Norris making a series of crucial errors in the closing stages as he attempted to catch Piastri, Brundle instead highlighted his compatriot's 'brilliant charge' on the broadcast. Perhaps the criticism that rained down upon him was fresh on 66-year-old Brundle's mind when he penned a post-Spa opinion piece for the Sky Sports website. Brundle, who picked up nine podiums in his 12-year career in the premier category, ultimately had some lofty comparisons when assessing Piastri's drive in Belgium. 'It was a champion's drive from Oscar Piastri in the main race on Sunday at Spa,' he wrote. 'The kind of performance reminiscent of the likes of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen in this modern era. 'A small error at Stavelot cost him pole position to teammate Lando Norris, who had impressively homed in on peak performance overnight. 'But then Piastri read and stalked his championship rival from the eventual rolling start, exited turn one La Source more cleanly, followed closely through Eau Rouge and Radillion, and kept momentum to sweep past into a lead he would not relinquish. 'This also gave him the all-important pit stop priority between the two.' Horrendous conditions delayed the start of the race on Sunday, with it finally getting underway behind a safety car. While Piastri jumped his teammate and grabbed the lead in the early stages, Norris was on the better compound tyre for a one-stop strategy. It left the Aussie with a huge fight on his hands to retain the lead, particularly in the closing stages. Brundle had high praise for the Victorian's effort, stating he 'made it look easy'. 'Because we waited so unnecessarily long to get underway, the race was much drier than expected, and this meant managing intermediate tyres through their compound destruction phase into a tread-less bald contact patch,' Brundle continued. 'The other McLaren side of the garage cleverly agreed with Norris to opt for the hard dry compound tyre, after Piastri's medium compounds were already fitted the previous lap, which meant Lando wouldn't have to pit again. 'Piastri then had to completely reset and coax his tyres for the remaining 70 per cent of the race, which he did with utter calmness and without error despite Norris coming back at him with increasing chunks each lap. 'Basically, he needed to deploy all the driving tools in the toolbox on the day and made it look easy. 'Lando was unlucky with having to go an extra lap on the intermediates because they were too close to do a double stack pit stop and then to compound that his stop was slow. 'As he said in the cooldown room post-race, 'I just thought bye-bye Oscar'.' Norris threw away any chance at victory due to those three costly mistakes as Piastri oozed class and kept his cool. As Norris began to close the gap to Piastri, he ran wide at turn 10 and lost more than a second before losing another half a second thanks to a big lockup. With only three laps to go and the margin down to three seconds, Norris once again locked up at turn one and saw the margin blow back out to 4.7 seconds. Those miscalculations ultimately allowed the Aussie to hold off his teammate and secure his sixth win of the season. But fans were left furious at the commentary, which seemed to downplay the Aussie's masterclass and instead hinted Norris was somewhat unlucky not to win. Piastri's win was put down to 'superior race management', while Norris' fate was sealed by 'unfortunate miscalculations'. Fans vented their feelings towards the commentary online. 'Insufferable dribble coming from Crofty. Piastri, no mistakes on higher degrading tyres with something left in the tank at the end not mentioned at all. Let's talk about his race management skills, which are superior to Lando's. The bias of Crofty is oozing out of him,' one fan wrote. 'As an Aussie, the absolutely anti-Piastri commentary from Sky Sports has been disgraceful. Brundle and Crofty normally love listening to both of you every race, but today's obsession with Lando was incredibly biased, English or not,' another said. 'Tell Crofty his sh** British Lando bias is getting out of hand! Lando is making mistakes left, right and centre and Croft still has him winning! Even after Oscar crossed the line and won, Croft was STILL crapping on about Norris. It's time for him to go,' a third added. Brundle noted those errors again when stating his belief – and hopes – for the remainder of the season. 'Once again in certain phases we saw the McLarens a second or two clear of the field every lap,' he wrote. 'Lando threw caution to the wind, he had nothing to lose, and he had to somehow disturb Oscar's tyre economy run, but three errors we saw on TV meant he came up short and had to settle for second and a further loss of eight points. 'I've felt the same way all year, when all the stars align I believe Lando is marginally the faster, but Oscar is more consistent, makes fewer errors, and is more clinical in combat. 'And his head is always rock solid. He'll take some beating in the closing stages now. 'Lando will need absolutely all he's got, all the time, to win this. 'We've very often seen two championship combatants find an overdrive and move to a scarcely believable level of delivery, it will be interesting to see if that happens over the next three Sprints and 10 GPs.' The Formula 1 season moves to the Hungaroring circuit this weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix and the only place to see every F1 race live is on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
