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Korea Herald
31-03-2025
- Sport
- Korea Herald
Kim Hyo-joo earns 7th LPGA title in playoff
South Korean veteran Kim Hyo-joo has claimed her seventh career LPGA title in a playoff. Kim defeated former world No. 1 Lilia Vu on the first hole of the playoff to win the Ford Championship at Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona, on Sunday. The two players ended up in the sudden-death showdown after finishing their 72 holes tied at 22-under 266. Vu was the 54-hole leader and Kim began the final round four strokes behind the American star. But Kim fired an eight-under 64 in the final round, including nine birdies, while Vu shot a four-under 68. The two went back to the 18th hole for the playoff and Kim came out on top with a birdie. This was Kim's first LPGA win since the Volunteers of America Classic in October 2023. The 29-year-old is the second South Korean player to win on the LPGA Tour in 2025, joining Kim A-lim, who captured the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in February. (Yonhap)
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Vu outduels Hull to grab lead at LPGA Ford Championship
American Lilia Vu grabbed the lead after the third round of the LPGA Ford Championship (Mike Mulholland) Two-time major winner Lilia Vu birdied three of the last four holes to seize a two-stroke lead over England's Charley Hull after Saturday's third round of the LPGA Ford Championship. The 27-year-old American, who also led by two shots when the day began, fired a four-under par 68 in firm and windy conditions to stand on 18-under 198 after 54 holes at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona. Advertisement "It was pretty difficult," Vu said. "Not only that, I feel like my ball-striking hasn't been as great the past few days but today it was good." Hull closed with a birdie to shoot 68 and stand on 200, putting herself in the final pairing with Vu, with Japan's Ayaka Furue and Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen sharing third on 201. A fifth-place pack on 202 included China's Zhang Yahui, South Koreans Ryu Hae-ran and Kim Hyo-joo, American Allisen Corpuz and world number two Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand. A double bogey by Vu at 14 left her level with Hull for the lead, but the American birdied the next three holes to seize command. Advertisement "I feel like I got a huge stop sign after that," Vu said after her stumble at 14. "I was telling my caddie I just can't get the numbers right today. "He just said to me I'm just going to get you on the green and we can try to make the putt from there and that's exactly what we were doing." Sixth-ranked Vu, a former world number one, seeks her sixth LPGA title and the first since last June's Meijer Classic, her first event after a three-month absence for a still-nagging back injury. "I'm not thinking too much about it," Vu said of winning. "I'm just going to go out there and have fun." Advertisement World number 10 Hull seeks her third career LPGA triumph and first since the 2022 Volunteers of America Classic. Hull and Vu battled for the lead much of the day, the American answering whenever challenged. Vu birdied the par-5 second and sandwiched birdies at the fifth and par-5 seventh around her first bogey of the week at the sixth before closing the front nine with another bogey. That opened the door for Hull, who overcame an opening bogey with birdies at the second, fifth and seventh and another at the par-5 12th to match Vu for the lead at 15-under. Vu responded with a birdie at the par-4 11th and a four-foot birdie putt at the par-5 12th to reach 17-under and when Hull made bogey at 14, Vu's lead was up to three shots. Advertisement But Hull answered with a birdie at 16 and when Vu made a double bogey at the 14th they were again tied for the lead. Vu answered once more with a long birdie putt at the par-3 15th and tap-in birdies at 16 and the par-5 17th to reach 18-under and lead by three before Hull's closing birdie. js/bb
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Vu fires 64 to seize lead at LPGA Ford Championship
American Lilia Vu fired a 64 to grab the lead after the second round of the LPGA Ford Championship (Mike Mulholland) Two-time major winner Lilia Vu fired an eight-under par 64 to grab a two-stroke lead after Friday's second round of the LPGA Ford Championship. The 27-year-old American made eight birdies in a bogey-free round to stand on 14-under par 130 after 36 holes at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona. Advertisement "I just stayed in my bubble," Vu said. "My caddie knew I was stressed this morning, and on the range he just said, 'Just hit your start lines and I'll handle the rest. We're going to be OK.' That definitely gave me a sense of comfort." Sixth-ranked Vu, a former world number one, seeks her sixth LPGA title and the first since last June's Meijer Classic, her first event after a three-month absence for a back injury that still bothers her. "I wasn't worried too much about the golf. I was kind of more focused on my body stuff and trying to get through the round without any pain and just stay strong throughout," Vu said. "I've been trying to get in tune with my body. I'm not in pain anymore. I'm just waiting for the power to kick in a little bit. I think that's something that's kind of been lacking, but I just focused on staying true to my process and just playing golf." Advertisement A second-place pack on 132 included top-ranked Nelly Korda of the United States who fired a 65, and world number two Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand who shot 64. Also two adrift were England's Charley Hull and Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen. Korda, a back-nine starter, made five birdies in her first nine holes then three more after the turn against a lone bogey at the par-4 fourth. "Got off to a good start," Korda said. "Slowed a little down on the back nine, but the wind picked up a little. It was starting to play a little bit firmer. Once the round and the heat starts to play a factor, you have to be a little bit more timid." Advertisement Thitikul, also a back-nine starter, began with three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 12th in her first four holes. She added four birdies the rest of the way and made her only bogey at four as well. "I didn't have a good confidence before coming here with my putter much, but I think for this two round I putted really well," Thitikul said. Hull, who fired a 63 on Thursday for the 18-hole lead, fired a 69. "I felt like I played pretty solid out there," Hull said. "I holed some good putts and I missed some that I probably should have holed, but it was a bit windy. I'm pretty happy with that and looking forward to the weekend." Advertisement World number 10 Hull seeks her third career LPGA triumph and first since the 2022 Volunteers of America Classic. Madsen, whose lone LPGA win came in Thailand in 2022, fired a 68. "It was tricky out there. The greens were really firm. It got a little windy," Madsen said. It was good to make pars." js/bb
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
England's Hull seizes lead at LPGA Ford Championship
Charley Hull of England fired a nine-under par 63 to grab the first-round lead at the LPGA Ford Championship (Mike Mulholland) England's Charley Hull fired a nine-under par 63 to seize a one-stroke lead over Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen after Thursday's first round of the LPGA Ford Championship. Hull's bogey-free morning round at Whirlwind Golf Club came with a new driver after suffering a "tweaked" club early in the week. "I really hit it well. I felt like that put me in a lot of good positions," Hull said. "I putted pretty well. I chipped pretty well. I hit it pretty well with my iron shots. Advertisement "I don't think I missed a green and didn't really miss any fairways. I was hitting it good and just felt confident." Hull seeks her third career LPGA triumph and first since the 2022 Volunteers of America Classic. She is also a four-time Ladies European Tour winner, most recently taking a title at Riyadh last November. The back-nine starter reeled off three birdies in a row at the first through third holes among her nine for the day. "I feel like I left actually a good four shots out there," she said. "Like the last I lipped on the left edge. The hole before I left it like an inch short. So I'm looking back thinking I could have done more." Advertisement Madsen birdied the par-4 18th to close within a stroke but a lone bogey at the par-4 fifth kept her adrift of Hull. "Stayed in fairways, so that made it a little easier," Madsen said. "I made a couple good putts and some good, steady birdies." The 64 was her second-lowest round in an LPGA event. "It's a pretty scorable course," she said. "There are a lot of birdie chances out there, but the greens are really firm, so that makes it a little trickier. "It's always great to shoot these really low numbers. I didn't really know where the game was at going into the week. I was feeling sick last week so I couldn't really practice that much, so just great to see a good number today." Advertisement Yoon Ina, a 21-year-old LPGA rookie, shared third on 65 with compatriots Im Jin-hee, Lee Mi-hyang and Kim Sei-young plus Taiwan's Chien Peiyun, American Amanda Doherty, Japan's Minami Katsu and Canada's Brooke Henderson. Yoon eagled the par-5 12th and par-4 18th holes. "On 12, I got the green by two shots and make a putt like three meters," Yoon said. "And another eagle 18, Second shot was 88 meters and I hit 54-degree and I hit great. I thought I can make birdie, but the gallery was cheering and yelling." js/jgc
USA Today
02-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
LPGA star Charley Hull threw up, ran a personal best and is still in contention at HSBC
LPGA star Charley Hull threw up, ran a personal best and is still in contention at HSBC Charley Hull has always been a bit unconventional, but her new approach to posting a low score and getting into contention at an LPGA event is even novel by her standards. Hull, known for both smoking on the course and now obsessively running, remained a single stroke behind Lydia Ko after the third round of the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore by working something new into her pre-round routine — vomiting — which she followed by running a personal best time. That's right, the ninth-ranked player in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings was ill before her round at Sentosa Golf Club. In search of her third LPGA title and her first since the now-defunct Volunteers of America Classic back in 2022, where she tied the tournament scoring record. On Saturday, despite feeling under the weather, Hull played largely error-free golf, pairing four birdies with no bogies en route to 68 that has her 9 under, just a single shot behind leader Lydia Ko. Saying she had a "little bit of a bug," Hull couldn't explain how she managed the day, but she did so. "I don't know really. I woke up this morning and I actually was sick. I threw up, and then I kind of got my head together," Hull said. "Then I actually did my personal best in my 5K run in 26 minutes, knocked another minute off. I was pretty happy about that. 30 seconds off, actually. That kept me in a good space for the rest of the day. Just went out on the golf course and played golf." Hull had remarked after the second round that she was tired, but with a training regiment that includes lengthy runs and, at least for one day, throwing up, "I think always when you come off the golf course, you're always tired. But I'm getting up early, and I'm training and I'm going to bed really early. So I feel nice and recovered for the next day," she said. "I'm pretty happy with the way I'm going and looking forward to tomorrow, and then one more day until I fly home." "My mindset is going to be no different from literally the last three days. Just go out there, play golf, hole some putts and have fun. That's about it, really. It's just a game at the end of the day. And since she played well, her reward is a final-round pairing with Ko, who will be looking for her 23rd LPGA title. Hull said she's looking forward to the opportunity. "I like playing with Lydia," Hull said. "She's a really, really nice person, so down-to-earth, so kind. Just go out there, have a little chops and just play golf."
