If there were ever a player who could have chased down 54-hole leader Miyu Yamashita, who took a six-stroke lead into the final round of the CPKC Women’s Open, it was Sei Young Kim - who was the owner of the lowest 72-hole scoring record in LPGA Tour history. That was, until Sunday.

Yamashita's steely final-round performance at Royal Mayfair Golf Club matched Kim in the record books with the same winning total. And even Kim couldn’t catch the third-round leader despite a closing round of 67.

“If I have a chance I try to aggressive. If not, yeah, I try to just stay short,” Kim said about her strategy over the weekend. “That's smart play.”

Kim came into the final round nine-strokes behind Yamashita and knew she’d need to get off to a hot start to have any chance of catching Yamashita. Kim said Royal Mayfair Golf Club has all the feels of a major championship venue that rewards good shots and Kim was rewarded early, making birdie at the par four, third followed by a chip-in for eagle at the par five, fifth hole to make an early jump up the leaderboard. At the par three, seventh hole Kim rolled in a near 20-footer for birdie to pull within five strokes of Yamashita and looked poised to pressure the leader after posting a 30 on the front nine.

“This course is kind of major golf course. Good shape and the fairways are really hard but the greens are soft, but speed-wise really fast, which is -- and if you miss the wrong side the rough is -- you can chance to the layup,” Kim said about the course conditions on moving day. “So it's not easy, but I like that course because it makes sense. If you play good, you hit it good, you can advantage, you can get the advantage. If you play bad, yeah, you can easy bogey, so like that.”

But just as Kim knew she’d be rewarded for good golf at Royal Mayfair, she knew she’d pay the price for missing the fairways and that was the case for the major champion. Kim struggled off the tee and found less than half the fairways on Sunday and failed to reach seven greens over the course of the day, which kept Kim from catching Yamashita at the top of the leaderboard.

Sunday afternoon, Kim had to rely heavily on her putter to remain Yamashita’s closest chaser throughout much of the day. Remarkably, Kim needed just 26 putts but many of those putts were for par and not the birdies that she really needed in order to try and give herself a chance to win.

Kim faded over the inward stretch, suffering a three-putt bogey at the par four, 16th for her first bogey since the 10th hole on Friday and missed another par save at the par three, 17th to fall out of second place, a position that she held for much of the day. Kim finished the week at the CPKC Women’s Open solo third.

Kim’s solid performance at the CPKC Women’s Open comes as no surprise, she’s been a consistent presence in the championship throughout her career, and recorded her sixth top 10 finish on Sunday. The strong finish also lifted Kim to her sixth top 10 of the season as the 13-time LPGA Tour winner continues to pursue her first victory of the season.

“I'm always happy to be in the play the Canada,” Kim said.

Kim Mounts Sunday Charge in Canada, Finishes Solo Third

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