Sei Young Kim of South Korea kisses the trophy at the award ceremony at the award ceremony following the final round of the BMW Ladies Championship 2025 at Pine Beach Golf Links on Sunday, October 19, 2025, in Haenam, South Korea. -- Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images-LPGA
HAENAM-GUN, Jeollanam-do: South Korea’s Sei Young Kim ended a five-year title drought with an emphatic wire-to-wire victory at the BMW Ladies Championship at Pine Beach Golf Links.
Seizing control of the US$2.3 million event with a stunning opening round of 62, Kim never looked back and chalked up her 13th LPGA title with a four-round total of 24-under-par 264 (62-66-69-67). She finished four strokes ahead of Japan’s Nasa Hataoka.
While Kim won five times on the Korea LPGA Tour in the early stages of her career, this was her first victory in an LPGA event on home soil. She is the seventh player from the Republic of Korea to win this season, the most of any country, and is the third Korean player to win the BMW Ladies Championship following Ha Na Jang (2019) and Jin Young Ko (2021).
“I think it took me more than ten years to win in front of my family and friends! This means so much to me. This is a tournament that I really wanted to win, and I find that I can't express it in words,” said Kim, whose last LPGA Tour victory came at the 2020 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge.
“I really had good energy from all the fans, and I'm really appreciative and thankful for that,” added the 32-year-old.
"I think I probably started with too much excitement starting off the round. So I tried to calm that tone and tried to just push myself throughout the play and make the right balance."
Kim is the 27th different winner on the 2025 LPGA Tour, setting a new record for most different winners in a single season. World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand became the first multiple winner of 2025 with a five-hole playoff victory over Japan’s Minami Katsu in Shanghai last week.
This was the second wire-to-wire victory of Kim’s career, following the 2019 CME Group Tour Championship. The victory also gave Kim the 13th win of her career on the LPGA Tour and the first in her native South Korea.
She is the third wire-to-wire winner this season, joining compatriots Haeran Ryu (Black Desert Resort Championship presented by Greater Zion) and A Lim Kim (Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions). Kim’s win also marks the second consecutive wire-to-wire victory at the BMW Ladies Championship, following Australian Hannah Green’s triumph in 2024.
Hataoka made a late charge with four birdies on the final five holes but by that time Kim was out of sight.
Hataoka, who has now finished in the top 10 six times this year but has not won on the LPGA Tour since 2022, said she was happy with "a great week".
"I played a pretty solid week every single day and I really enjoyed it playing with Sei-young in the last group on the final day," said the 26-year-old.
"I'm very happy today."
American Yealimi Noh, who began the final round tied for second with Hataoka, finished in a tie for fifth with defending champion Hannah Green of Australia. South Korea's Kim A-lim and France's Celine Boutier tied for third, six strokes behind the winner.
The LPGA Tour remains in Korea for the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown at New Korea Country Club in the cpming week, before heading to Malaysia for the Maybank Championship at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club from October 30-November 2.
