Defeats Madsen in Second Group Match of Match Play
Two Consecutive Wins Put Her at the Top of the Group and on Track for Round of 16
Kim Seyoung, An Narin, and Kim Arim Also Secure Two Straight Victories
Kim Hyo-joo sailed smoothly toward the ‘Match Queen’ title. On the 3rd (local time), at the Shadow Creek Golf Course (par 72, 6,765 yards) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, she defeated Nana Madsen (Denmark) by 2 holes in the second group stage match of the LPGA Tour T-Mobile Match Play (total prize money $2 million).
Kim Hyo-joo is putting on the 1st hole of the second match in the T-Mobile Match Play group stage. Las Vegas=Photo by AFP Yonhap News
Kim Hyo-joo was trailing Madsen by 2 holes up to the 14th hole (par 4), making her chances look bleak. However, she won the 15th and 16th holes to even the match, then won the 17th hole (par 3) to take a 1-hole lead. On the final 18th hole (par 4), she secured a birdie while Madsen made a bogey, earning the winning point. With two consecutive wins, Kim Hyo-joo will compete against Maya Stark (Sweden, 2 wins) for a spot in the round of 16.
Korea led the group with Kim Se-young, Kim A-rim, and An Na-rin all achieving two consecutive wins. On the other hand, rookie Yoon In-a suffered a 4-hole defeat to Lucy Li (USA), standing at 1 win and 1 loss. World No. 1 and defending champion Nelly Korda (USA) earned her first victory of the tournament by narrowly defeating Jennifer Kupcho (USA) by 1 hole after an 18-hole battle. Korda had previously drawn with Brittany Altomare (USA), the lowest 64th seed, the day before. World No. 3 Lydia Ko (New Zealand) crushed Gabriella Ruffels (Australia) by 6 holes. All players in this group recorded 1 win and 1 loss each.
This tournament is the only match play event on the LPGA Tour, featuring 64 players divided into 16 groups of 4. Each player competes one-on-one against the other three players in the same group. A win earns 1 point, and a draw earns 0.5 points. The top player from each group advances to the round of 16.
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