South Korean teen golfer Hyo Joo Kim made the history books Thursday when she became the first ever player to shoot lowest in a major tournament for both men and women at 10-under 61 in the first round of the Evian Championship in France.
Only two women shot 62 in a major tournament–Minea Blomqvist of Finland at the 2004 British Open and Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa at the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship. For men, 26 different players have shot a record low 63. Jason Dufner is the most recent to hit that figure at the U.S. PGA Championship last year as he went on to win the tournament.
“I like a hard course,” Kim said after Thursday’s first round, according to ESPN. “I felt very comfortable today. I made a chance [for] a birdie on every [hole]. I missed some [but] it didn’t matter.”
Kim, just 19, is relatively a less heralded golfer from South Korea, which has produced some of the LPGA’s biggest talents, including the World Golf Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak and Inbee Park, last year’s LPGA Player of the Year.
“She’s not a massive hitter but has a very decent length, and keeps up with the girls,” said Gordon Rowan, Kim’s caddie. “Her accuracy into the greens means that she’s never far away. She also has a very good temperament, and even on days when she’s fighting and putts don’t fall, she keeps going.”
At the halfway stage of the Evian, Kim is chasing Brittany Lincicome by one-shot after Friday.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
