A true champion

Humble. Resilient. Serial winner. Major champion.

These six words will forever be associated with I K Kim’s career as the Korean star begins adjusting to life away from the golf course.

The 36-year-old announced her retirement following her final round at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open in August.

There was no hint of retirement in the build-up to, or during, this year’s Championship. No stopping on the Swilcan Bridge on the Sunday either, to soak up what would have been deserved acclaim. This was a retirement very much in keeping with Kim’s unassuming and endearing personality.

“It took me two years to make this decision,” she said. “But I think that I’ve done everything that I wished for. It’s not that I’ve done everything that I’ve dreamed of, but there’s a beginning and an ending.

“I’m so happy with what I have achieved. As I’ve got older, I appreciate and enjoy golf more and more. That’s why I can be happy to turn around and say ‘this is it’.”

Kim was in the top echelons of women’s golf almost as soon as she turned professional, in 2007. Her first victory in the paid ranks came in 2008, with two more arriving in 2009.

A quiet yet popular player on Tour, perhaps the first public sign of Kim’s genuine warmth came after she won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational the following year, donating her entire $220,000 purse to charity.

If those actions speak of her generosity, then the way she bounced back from a nightmare finish at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2012, to eventually become a major champion, simply shines a huge, bright light on her unquestionable mental fortitude.

Needing just a one-foot putt on the 72nd hole at Mission Hills Country Club – to land a first major title – Kim could only watch in disbelief and horror as the ball rolled around the cup and ultimately lipped out.

She was understandably shaken walking off the 18th green and would go on to lose the play-off to Sun-Young Yoo.

Lesser players – lesser characters – may never have recovered from such an ordeal. But, after posting a further 11 top-10 finishes in the main events, Kim put those major demons to bed when she triumphed in the AIG Women’s Open at Kingsbarns in 2017. And she did so in commanding fashion.

Such was Kim’s dominance over the first three days, her 54-hole score of 199 broke the Championship record of 200, set by Ariya Jutanugarn a year before. That afforded her a six-shot lead going into the final round.

“I was quite nervous in the morning,” she said of her day in the sun.

“I’d never had a six-shot lead on a Sunday before. I felt like it was possible to do it, but I couldn’t think about winning. I wanted to have fun, but I couldn’t. That day was so nerve-wracking.”

Kim was being chased down by a resurgent Jodi Ewart Shadoff, who closed with an impressive eight-under-par 64, and although the Korean couldn’t find the rhythm of the first three rounds, her one-under-par 71 was enough to seal a two-shot victory – and that elusive major crown.

Yet, even when discussing her champagne moment, Kim’s unassuming personality doesn’t fail to sneak through.

“Jodi played great,” she recalled. “I knew if she could score eight-under then I could come up with something not quite as good, but good enough.

“I had worked very hard for many years, and I’m glad that I can say I’ve done it [won a major championship] once.

“I don’t want to say I was lucky, but some days you need some luck and the golf course has to suit you. I just think it was my week.”

That victory at Kingsbarns was one of four titles Kim collected on the LET, to go alongside the seven on the LPGA Tour. A career and a trophy cabinet any golfer would rightfully be proud of.

“I’m more proud of how hard I’ve worked for all those years,” said Kim. “I worked so hard in this off-season, and all the last 18 off-seasons.

“Golf is something that I will cherish for many years – as long as I live. I’ve played golf since I was nine. Who I am, what I say and what I do is all because of golf.

“Golf is such a wonderful game. Not only professionally, but I have met so many great people through golf that are so important to me, and I feel very grateful for that.”

For a player of Kim’s calibre and pedigree, there could not have been a more fitting venue to bow out than the Old Course at St Andrews, the home of golf – something that wasn’t lost on one of Korea’s most successful sportspeople.

“I don’t think I can put it into words,” she said, “but those last 18 holes are something that I will always remember.

“I can’t believe it was my last one, but I will cherish it forever.”