Sei takes 54-hole lead at CME Group Tour Championship

 

One year later, Kim is in the same position heading into the final day in Naples, Fla., as she leads by one stroke at -13 after a third-round 67.

 

“I think I feel I got good feeling, because I wasn't good shot striking ball the last week, but I try to figure out,” said Kim. “I got something in there, yeah, I was able to play, yeah, very solid this week.”

 

Kim carded six birdies through her first 13 holes and was blemish-free on the scorecard until No. 18. After a tricky putt off the green went whirling past the hole, Kim missed on a makeable par putt from 5 feet that grazed the left side of the hole, leading to her first bogey since No. 9 on Friday.

 

A win on Sunday would be the first time Kim has successfully defended a title in her career, as she looks to become the only three-time winner of the 2020 season.

 

“Well, my position is really good chance to the chase the everything. So, yeah, I don't have any the defend champion, so it's really -- if I play well tomorrow, yeah, good chance to everything. So yeah, I just keep doing,” said Kim.

 

World No. 1 Jin Young Ko’s 3-under 70, her second consecutive bogey-free round, kept her firmly in title contention. Ko birdied holes 3 and 7 and then produced nine straight pars until No. 17. With a birdie on the second-to-last hole and the bogey finish by Kim, Ko sits at -12 with her first win of the 2020 season in sight.

 

“I just try to make birdies, and then I said yesterday my goal is like just bogey-free round on the weekend, so I made it today,” said Ko, whose best finish in Naples is T11. “I'm looking forward to tomorrow.”

 

Ko will join Kim in Sunday’s final grouping along with fellow major champion Georgia Hall after Hall’s 4-under 68 landed her in solo third at -10. Hall had a relatively quiet start with eight pars and a lone bogey on No. 5 but rebounded on her back nine with five birdies in her last eight holes to keep herself in the mix at the Tour’s season finale.

 

“I hit it pretty good today as well. I just didn't hole many on the front nine, so I had to stay patient.

Yeah, managed to get a couple early in the back nine and then just followed in from there really,” said Hall, who earned her second career victory earlier this season at the Cambia Portland Classic. “Very happy with my back nine to get me especially into contention for tomorrow.”

 

Five players are tied for fourth at -9, four shots back from Kim, including past CME champions Charley Hull (2016) and Lexi Thompson (2018), and Brooke Henderson, one of six players to card the day’s low round of 6-under-66. Mina Harigae, playing in her first CME Group Tour Championship since she tied for 26th in 2012, is tied for ninth with major champions Cristie Kerr, Lydia Ko and Hannah Green. Green was near the top of the leaderboard at -10 after three birdies in her first 17 holes, but a double bogey on No. 18 curbed any chances of a spot in Sunday’s final grouping.

 

“I made a great par save on 9; holed nearly a 10-foot putt for par and gave myself a good opportunity on 10. Missed it. Then gave myself another good opportunity on 12 and 13 and missed it again. Just couldn't get the pace of the greens today. Then on the last kind of just hit my second putt, third putt a bit too quickly and tugged it left,” said Green. “I'm going to do some putting, try and make sure I'm not getting too quick on my stroke and wanting to get the ball in the hole too quickly. Hopefully I can get good numbers into greens like I did today and capitalize on that.”

 

WITH A WIN

Sei Young Kim would earn her second consecutive CME Group Tour Championship title and become the first multiple winner in championship history

 

With the $1.1 million winner’s check, Sei Young Kim would move to $2,307,438 in 2020 earnings and win the Official Money Title; she would also move to $10,974,114 in career earnings and become the 18th player in LPGA Tour history to cross the $10 million threshold

 

Projections show that Sei Young Kim could move to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings with a win and a Jin Young Ko finish of solo 10th or worse

 

With the $1.1 million winner’s check, Jin Young Ko would move to $5,600,824 in career earnings and become the 71st player in LPGA Tour history to cross the $5 million threshold

 

Georgia Hall would earn her second victory of 2020, joining the Cambia Portland Classic

 

With her third career victory, Georgia Hall would tie Trish Johnson for the third-winningest LPGA Tour player from England, following Laura Davies (20 victories) and Alison Nicholas (four victories)

 

SEI YOUNG THE LIONHEARTED STALKING AN AGGRESSIVE TITLE DEFENSE

Players handle pressure in different ways. Some show signs of cracking. Some calm themselves with slow, deep breaths. Some never crack a smile, the intensity of the moment etched in each deepening line on their face.

 

Then, there is Sei Young Kim, who doesn’t just elevate her game as pressure intensifies, she seems to get happier as she does it.

 

When you look at the career of the third-round leader of the CME Group Tour Championship, you could easily say that holing a chip to get in a playoff and then holing an approach to beat a Hall of Famer for your second career win was a stroke of good luck. You could certainly look at shooting 31-under to set an all-time scoring record as a lightning-in-a-bottle kind of week. Sure, you could say that holing a curling 22-footer to win the largest paycheck in women’s golf at the CME Tour Championship a year ago was a great finish with a little bit of fortune. But when you combine all of those things together, throw in a near flawless major championship at Aronimink, and sprinkle a 5-0 playoff record on top, suddenly you look at Kim like a superhero – James Bond straightening the Windsor knot of a tie while saving the world.

 

It happens every time she’s in contention. As the stage gets bigger and the pressure intensifies, Kim’s game gets more aggressive while her personality goes the other way. In the hottest moments, Kim is as cool as Steve McQueen in a Mustang.  

 

“My vibe was really good because of the warmer weather,” Kim said after a five-under 67 on Saturday, a round that gave her a one-shot lead of this CME Group Tour Championship going into the final round. “Then I was paired with Jin Young (Ko) and Lexi (Thompson). Those are my favorite players to play with, so yeah, it was fun.” Then she quickly added, “We didn’t talk much but it was very comfortable and chill out there.”

 

JIN YOUNG KO SEES A PUTTING LESSON WITH STEVE STRICKER IN THE NEAR FUTURE

Saturday at the CME Group Tour Championship was a doubly successful day for Rolex Ranking No. 1 Jin Young Ko. Not only did she keep a spot near the top of the leaderboard at -12, one stroke off the lead held by Sei Young Kim, but she also met one of her icons, 12-time PGA Tour winner Steve Stricker, and even got him to promise a date on the putting green.

 

“I met him before the tee off today and then I said, ‘Hi. I'm your fan.’ He said, ‘Okay, good luck. And thank you,’” said Ko of her interaction with Stricker, who is moonlighting as a on-course commentator for Golf Channel during the weekend broadcast coverage. “I asked him on the course, maybe hole number 12, I asked to him, ‘How long of a time do you practice putting?’ He said, ‘A lot.’ I said, ‘So how many times?’ ‘A lot,’ [he said.] And then I said, ‘I want to ask you about putting. Teach me.’ And then he said, ‘Any time.’ He was really good. He was nice.”

 

Only one round left before the 2020 LPGA Tour season wraps up, Ko knows that Sunday is her final opportunity to win her first tournament of the pandemic-stained season. And, of course, capture her first Race to the CME Globe title.

 

“Win? Well, I never finished top 10 for this course, Tiburon, so if I win it's going to be a big one to me. So I will try for the win, but I don't want to get too greedy,” said Ko.

 

BROOKE HENDERSON TAKES FULL ADVANTAGE OF CME MOVING DAY

Brooke Henderson said she feels she’s improving each year at Tiburon Golf Club, and it showed with an impressive moving day at the CME Group Tour Championship. After starting the first round with a 1-over 73, Henderson quickly gained ground this Saturday after carding seven birdies and a long bogey on No. 9 to record a 6-under 66 and sit in a tie for fourth at -10.

 

“I feel like every year I get a little bit more comfortable out here, learn the course a little bit more, which is good. And working hard with Brit, my caddie, and also my dad, my coach, is usually out here, too,” said Henderson. “Just trying to get a better plan and strategize our way around here. I just -- every hole I feel like there is opportunity for birdie, so that makes it really exciting when you step up to every tee.”

 

It is the Canadian’s sixth appearance in the Tour’s season finale, where she has never finished worse than T25. Last year, Henderson finished in solo fifth, her career-best result in the event. Today’s round ties her lowest 18-hole score at Tiburon, last recorded in 2015 when she finished 13th. The 23-year-old said she misses the “Brooke Brigade,” and the heavy contingent of fans that follow the Hendersons at the Tour Championship.

 

“It's very strange not to see the big stands. Normally there is a lot the snowbirds, Canadians following me around all four days, so it's definitely been strange,” said Henderson, who also takes residence in Naples when not in Canada. “I really miss the energy and the little bit of adrenaline that the fans bring, but at the end of the day it's just a competitive round and you're just trying to do the best you can.”

 

MINJEE LEE RIDES HOT BACK NINE INTO SUNDAY IN NAPLES

She found an early bogey in the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship on No. 3, but Minjee Lee bounced back with a vengeance. The five-time LPGA Tour champion eventually made the turn in red numbers before making a run on the back nine that included five straight birdies from Nos. 13-17 to cap a 6-under par 66 performance.

“It was a nice stretch,” said Lee, who hit all 14 fairways and 13 greens today. “I hit really good iron shots into a lot of those holes, so it was nice to have little putts for birdie. A good momentum swing and after the first two days, you work hard those two days, really want to climb that leaderboard.”

Lee will be joined in the penultimate grouping tomorrow by Charley Hull and Brooke Henderson, both also firing rounds of 66 this afternoon. The Australian heads into the final 18 holes four shots back of the lead and in a tie for fourth at -9 overall.

“Looking at the leaderboard, I think Sei Young is kind of running away with it. I'm probably going to have to start really fast and make a lot of birdies tomorrow,” Lee said. “Just play my game, be aggressive and try to hole a lot of putts.

“I think she [Kim] starts off well and she ends well. If she's on, she's on. It's kind of really hard to keep up if she's really on her game. Just means we have to step it up a little bit.”

 

CME GROUP SCORES 1 FOR ST. JUDE THIS SEASON

When players showed up at the Ritz Carlton Golf Resort in Naples for obligatory COVID testing before the CME Group Tour Championship, they looked like road-weary travelers in the TSA line. While everyone is grateful for the sponsors, staff, volunteers and venues providing opportunities to play, a summer and fall filled with nasal swabs and temperature checks has deadened the eyes of those who traversed that gauntlet.

 

But the ballroom at the Ritz was different. After their tests, players were treated to unexpected gifts – headcovers from CME Group adorned with art by patients from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

More than one player teared up at the gift. Others couldn’t wait to put the headcovers in play. All agreed to sign an additional cover to be auctioned off to benefit St. Jude. 

 

Throughout the 2020 LPGA Tour season, CME Group supported St. Jude by donating $20,000 for every hole-in-one made in competition. The program is called “Score 1 For St. Jude,” and has seen 14 aces coming into the week. 

 

Danielle Kang was so moved by the success of the program, and some of the comments that came from a St. Jude patient who attended her pre-tournament virtual press conference, that she agreed to donate $1,000 for every birdie she made this week. “I might not make a hole-in-one, but I know I’m going to make some birdies,” Kang said. “Hopefully I can make 20 birdies this week and donate $20,000.”