Hyo Joo Kim has the opportunity to break a streak that’s been running since the beginning of the 2025 season on Sunday at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open.

Dating back to the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, there have been 19 different winners across 18 different LPGA Tour tournaments, the most in the organization’s history. If Kim overcomes the three-stroke deficit that stands between her and 54-hole leader Lottie Woad, she would be the first athlete this year to win more than once, as the 30-year-old captured her seventh career victory in March at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass in a playoff over Lilia Vu.

The Republic of Korea native is currently sitting alone in fourth at 14-under overall after carding three under-par rounds over the first 54 holes at Dundonald Links. Kim got off to a bit of a quiet start on Thursday, posting a 2-under 70 that saw her make two bogeys and four birdies, three of which came in a four-hole stretch from Nos. 5 through 8 on her opening nine.

But Kim caught fire on day two, putting up a bogey-free 6-under 66 that vaulted her from T24 to solo fifth with 36 holes to play at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open. The major champion then came out swinging on Moving Day, lighting up Dundonald Links with five birdies in her first eight holes of the third round to race up the leaderboard to 13-under overall.

She stumbled with just her third bogey of the week on the par-4 9th hole, but Kim steadied herself coming down the stretch, parring her next four holes before picking up a pair of back-to-back birdies on the par-5 14th and par-3 15th holes to move to 14-under for the week. She then closed out with three more pars to polish off another 66 and put herself in contention with 18 holes left to play in the second leg of the LPGA’s European Swing.

This isn’t the first time that Kim has found herself in this position in Scotland. In her six starts in the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open ahead of the 2025 edition of the event, she has finished in the top three twice, tying for third in 2022 when Ayaka Furue became a Rolex First-Time Winner and then coming in second to Celine Boutier in 2023 after firing a 7-under 65 in the final round.

So a late-tournament charge wouldn’t be out of the question for Kim on Sunday at the Women’s Scottish Open, as she clearly knows what it takes to post a number deep in the red at Dundonald Links. It would be her first Tour win in the United Kingdom if Kim were to pull out the victory, and it would mark the first season since Kim has been an LPGA Tour member that she has won two or more titles in the same year.

She would also be the eighth Korean to win at least eight times on the LPGA Tour and would be the third Korean to win this championship, alongside Mi Jung Hur (2019) and Mi Hyang Lee (2017).

With all of that to consider, there’s a chance that Kim could feel some pressure ahead of the upcoming final round. But having plenty of positive past links golf experience on which to rely and having some good recent form on which to lean, the seven-time champion is sure to put up a strong fight on day four as she works to end the LPGA Tour’s different winner streak in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Hyo Joo Kim Trying to Become First Multiple Winner of 2025 Season in Scotland

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