This past weekend in golf saw the fourth major of the season, the Ricoh Women's British Open, take place with In-Kyung Kim emerging victorious. On the PGA Tour, a prestigious World Golf Championship (WGC) event was being held. Hideki Matsuyama shot a record setting final round to win the event.
In-Kyung Kim captures her first major
Going into the fourth round of the Women's British Open, In-Kyung Kim had a six shot led over her nearest competitors.
Jodi Ewart Shadoff, who started the day at 8-under (9 shots back), managed to put the pressure on. She finished her final round shooting an 8-under 64, with 8 birdies and no bogeys on her scorecard. This made her the leader in the clubhouse at 16-under par and only two shots behind Kim, who still had five holes to play.
Back at the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship (now the ANA Inspiration), Kim had a one-foot putt to win her first major, which she missed and ended up losing in the resulting playoff. However, Kim managed to shake off those past demons as she made par on the last five holes, shooting a 1-under 71 for the day and finishing the tournament at 18-under.
This was Kim's first major victory and came off of her missing the cut in the previous two majors. The victory gave Kim her seventh victory on the LPGA Tour and fourth on the Ladies European Tour. This is because winning the Women's British Open counts as a victory on both tours. Kim now has three wins this year, as she won the ShopRite LPGA Classic and the Marathon Classic in June.
Matsuyama wins the WGC Bridgestone
Going into the final round of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, Zach Johnson and Thomas Pieters were tied for the lead at 9-under par, with Hideki Matsuyama two shots back at 7-under par. On the front nine, Matsuyama came out on fire, shooting a 5-under 30 on the front nine. On the back nine, he shot a 4-under 31, including three straight birdies to end his round and easily pull away from the field.
When it was all over his 9-under 61 put him at 16-under for the day, five shots ahead of Zack Johnson. This score tied the course record set in the past by Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, and Jose Maria Olazabal. However, it was the lowest final round score at the course in forty years. In his final round, he had 1 eagle, 7 birdies, and no bogeys.
This was Matsuyama's fifth career victory on the PGA Tour, with his other one at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. It was also his second victory at a WGC event, making the last five of these prestigious tournaments won by either him or Dustin Johnson.