Australian golfer Grace Kim may well be the definition of never giving up hope after a stunning win at the Amundi Evian in France.
In a series of moves she still can’t quite explain, Kim worked her way back from four shots behind in a nail-biting final round to claim victory over world number two Jeeno Thitikul on the second play-off hole.
The 24-year-old golfer not only suffered a rough start in the event, but a rough week and year in the lead-up.
“Obviously I was pretty bummed to find out that my ball was in the middle of the water, but it’s not quite finished until the very end and I wasn’t worried,” she said.
In a move commentators termed “wizardry,” Kim chipped in on the first playoff hole after playing her ball out of the penalty area.
“I dropped the ball and it kind of ended up in a pretty decent line... just chipped it in, I don’t know if I can do it again but that was great,” Kim told media after her win.
“I don’t know what happened. It just kind of happened very quickly but I’m glad that I’m sitting here for sure.”
Kim admitted she had faced an uphill battle coming into the tournament, with self-doubt and a cold playing on her energy levels.
“It’s a huge achievement for me, I’ve had a lot of doubts early this year and was kinda losing motivation, I kinda had to get some hard conversations done with the team and kinda had to wake up a little bit,” she said.
“So to be sitting here next to this trophy is definitely surreal, I also caught a bit of a cold this week as well so knowing I wasn’t 100 percent.
“But again, even if I’m 80 percent, I'll give my 100 percent of that 80 and there was no stopping me this week.”
Despite it all, Kim said she could feel it would be a good chip shot.
“Don’t know how that happened,” she said.
“This is unbelievable. I didn’t really know that I'd be sitting here this soon.”
Kim admits she struggled after her win at the 2023 Lotte Championship in Hawaii, where she won her very first Ladies Professional Golf Association title.
“Obviously now it’s a huge topic with the mental aspect of the game, so much doubt has gone in through my mind then it snowballed very quickly and I guess it was a bit of a burnout at the start of this year, but overcoming that wouldn’t have been possible without my team,” she said.
Kim said the importance of a good team meant everything to get others to believe in you, even when you doubt yourself.
And for Kim, a little visualisation helped her go a long way.
“I think I’ve won a lot more events in my mind than I have in real life, but I think you need that visualisation and that imagery in your mind to back yourself and get this far,” she said.
Kim also celebrated her maiden professional title win at the 2022 Epson Tour.
