Kim had trailed by four shots late in the final round but birdied 15, birdied 16 and eagled the par‑5 18th hole to reach a play-off. She found the water in the first play-off hole, chipped in for birdie to stay alive before making another eagle on the next to clinch victory.
Her 14‑under total marked a historic moment – she became only the fifth Australian woman to lift a major trophy, joining Karrie Webb, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Jan Stephenson on the roll call of champions.
The Evian title was a stark reminder that Australia’s colours are flying high on the global women’s golf stage.
This was more than just the 72-holes of Kim’s life – it capped an extraordinary week for Aussie women on tour. Four Australians finished inside the top 15: in addition to Kim’s triumph, Lee (T3), Gabi Ruffels (T9) and Stephanie Kyriacou (T14) all made strong showings.
Grace Kim with the Evian Championship trophy accompanied by one of the better backdrops. PHOTO: Getty Images.
Even more impressively, the Aussie girls have now pinched the past two women’s majors. Lee captured the Women’s PGA Championship just weeks earlier at Fields Ranch East, so Kim’s maiden major win means back‑to‑back major trophies for the ladies from Down Under. It’s a clear signal that we are in the midst of a “golden generation” of Aussie female golfers who have firmly arrived on centre stage.
None of this is a surprise given the foundation laid by earlier stars. Stephenson was one of the first Australian women to conquer the LPGA, famously winning three majors in the early 1980s.
Webb then became this country’s gold standard: a seven‑time major champion with 41 LPGA victories and a World Golf Hall‑of‑Fame career. Webb’s success was a massive influence towards a generation of Australian girls taking up and playing the game, and she has continued her impact by giving back and mentoring the talent that comes next.
Webb’s own Karrie Webb Series program – which awards two annual scholarships to rising female amateurs – has been a huge contributor to springboarding of the careers of Lee, Green, Kim, Ruffels and more.
Karrie Webb embraces Hannah Green following Green’s 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship win. PHOTO: Getty Images.
That influence has arguably reaped its rewards most over the past 18-months: Lee became a three‑time major winner (adding to her 2021 Evian and 2022 U.S. Open titles). Green – our 2019 PGA champion – recorded three LPGA Tour wins last year and was ranked as high as No.5 on the Rolex Women’s World Ranking.Now Kim has become a major champion.
Together these champions continue to illustrate to Australia’s next generation that LPGA titles and major trophies are within reach – effectively laying the track for today’s stars.
Those pathways are obviously paying dividends. The Karrie Webb Series is part of a national program of events and scholarships nurturing young talent, and it has funnelled players straight into top‑level golf.
For example, Kim topped the Karrie Webb Series standings in 2020 to earn one of the scholarships (her third time winning it) and Ruffels took the other. Kyriacou was right behind them on the leaderboard.
Each scholarship winner gets to spend a week with Webb at a major, living and breathing pro life – an invaluable experience.
Grace Kim was first on the scene to celebrate Minjee Lee’s PGA triumph. PHOTO: Getty Images.
Along with state high‑performance squads and Golf Australia’s female pathways programs, the system has primed Kim, Kyriacou, Ruffels and others to thrive on the LPGA Tour. In short, our juniors are being fed into an excellent pipeline.
Looking ahead, the future could not be brighter. We’ve seen a string of young Aussie women contend and win on the biggest stages, our amateurs are thriving.
One of this year’s Karrie Webb scholars, Jazy Roberts, just booked her spot at the U.S Women’s Amateur by winning the PNGA Women’s Amateur over the weekend in Washington, the third Aussie to qualify for this year’s championship alongside Ella Scaysbrook and Momo Sugiyama; the talent pool is deep.
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Minjee Lee won her third major championship in June, the news making a ripple in the sports pages of our mainstream press before being quickly subsumed by the money-makers of our national sports consciousness. Some will blame the media, some will blame misogyny, some will blame the weight of history. Matt Cleary argues that women’s golf needs a champion who champions women’s golf.
With pioneers like Stephenson and Webb as inspiration and practical mentors, and a solid development structure behind them, these new stars know that nothing less than LPGA Tour and major success could be their destiny.
If Kim’s Evian heroics and four Australians in the top 15 to go with Lee’s Fields Ranch triumph is any guide, we should be confident that the best is yet to come for this generation of Aussie golfers – the girls who have just watched their peers lift the last two major trophies, and know it can be their turn next.
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