South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim, who successfully defended her Aramco Korea Championship title, with the tournament trophy in Seoul on Sunday. Image courtesy let.com.
By Rahul Banerji
Pranavi Urs and Diksha Dagar endured tough closing rounds at the Aramco Korea Championship in Seoul on Sunday as South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim held on well to defend her title by two shots.
While Pranavi (73-74-74) took a share of 40th place on 5 over par 221, Diksha (73-74-75) was tied for 52nd one stroke behind on 6 under 222.
At the top, Hyo (70-70-69) held off a charging Chiara Tamburlini (75-68-68) to total 7 under 209 to the Swiss star’s 211.
The result leaves Diksha seventh on Order of Merit after seven starts for the season, Pranavi is 38th after six events and rookie Avani Prashanth, who narrowly missed the cut at Seoul is 41st after five events.
Aditi Ashok who has played just once on the LET this season, and Tvesa Malik are further down the list.
It was a clinical display from world number eight Kim, who set out Sunday at the New Korea Country Club one shot clear of the field.
It was her 25th career title, a third on the Ladies European Tour and the second win in 2025 after the Ford Championship on the LPGA.
“As a winner of last year’s championship, people all around me kept telling me ‘you have to win this time as well.’ I had that in my mind the whole time,” Kim said on the LET website.
Great memories
“This brings back very great memories and I’m very thankful to my fans who all came out to support me. I think it’s a great win today.
“Golf is my job and it can be stressful. But thanks to my fans, I can really put down this stress and enjoy the game. I lived in the moment and really enjoyed it today. I’ll be celebrating with my family tonight.
“Rather than focusing on the competition, I just tried to focus on my own game. I did feel that my play was not as usual. I needed to bring my game up. My caddie even said, ‘are you nervous?’, because this was not normal.
So I knew I needed to up my game on the back nine. The 17th hole was one of key moments which really helped me win.”
Added 2024 LET Order of Merit winner Tamburlini, who briefly held the outright lead with five birdies on the front nine, “Honestly, this one feels really good. After Chevron, I was really beating myself up.
“I know it was just one week, and I had played well on the LET all of last year, but I was not feeling well.
“I had a lot of good conversations with my team and they helped build me back up. I think it’s a big part of this success today. It’s a massive confidence booster.”
Kim sealed the issue with clutch birdies on holes 13 and 17 after Tamburlini, who had missed the Chevron Championship cut, continued to come at her hard.
South Korean amateur Seojin Park was sole third on 4 under par 212 with a closing 65, which was the round of the week while a group of four shared fourth place on 3 under 213.
The LET will move to the Netherlands next for the start of its European Swing, with the Dutch Ladies Open from May 16 to 18.
Bhullar also finishes mid-pack
Meanwhile, at the International Series Japan presented by Moutai, 11-time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar (71-69-71-70) brought in a tied 39th place finish on 3 under par 281 behind event topper Lucas Herbert of Australia.
Two-time Indian Open champion Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia (71-71-72-73) was the only other Indian in the field to make the cut. He took a share of 68th place on 3 over 287 at the par-71 Caledonian Golf Club in Chiba.
Herbert eagled his closing hole for the second day in a row at the $2 million event to close with a 7 under par 64 and a tournament total of 20 under 264 for his maiden Asian Tour and International Series win.
Noted the Asian Tour website, “It was a remarkable run by Herbert, who was five shots behind the leader with three holes to play in the third round.”
The Ripper GC star triggered a 10-shot swing against his closest rival with two eagles in the last three holes on Saturday, followed by Sunday’s 64 that included seven birdies and the eagle on 18.
With the win, Herbert tops the Asian Tour Order of Merit, as well as the International Series Rankings. It was also his first international victory in almost two years, having won the 2023 ISPS Handa Championship, also in Japan.
Also read: Team Kouskova win Aramco Korea Championship as Indians slip
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