By: Max Bechtoldt
Hyo Joo Kim captured her first LPGA win of the season in 2023 this week. It was a long time coming, as Hyo Joo Kim isn’t only the most underrated player on the LPGA Tour, this year she might be the best.
Now I know what everyone is saying. Lilia Vu and Celine Boutier each have three wins this season with Vu having two majors. While the high-end results may favor those two players, the consistent high-level play Kim has shown is undeniable.
First and foremost, Kim hasn’t missed a single cut this year. Remarkably, she only has one finish outside of the top 40 all season. Her lack of bad results is what currently is driving her to lead the LPGA in scoring average at 69.97. While 2023 would be Kim’s first time winning the scoring average title, she has finished runner up twice since 2019, including last season. Why does she lead in scoring average? Probably because she leads the tour in birdies while having played less tournaments than anyone relatively close. (Only two players, Nasa Hataoka and Georgia Hall are near her.)
Fueling this scoring domination is Kim excelling at every facet of the game. Kim is ranked No. 2 in driving accuracy, No. 3 in greens in regulation and No. 4 in putts per green in regulation. While she isn’t the longest player off the tee, she is maybe the most accurate player on the LPGA Tour.
It shouldn’t be surprising that Kim also dominates the KPMG Performance Insights stats. Prior to her win in Texas she was already the leader in strokes gained total for full-time LPGA players. While she is in the top half for every category, she is fourth in strokes gained tee-to-green and sixth in strokes gained approach.
In total Hyo Joo Kim has nine top-10 finishes in 2023, trailing only Atthaya Thitikul. She also has an incredible six top-five finishes. She has played well in the majors also, finishing in the top 20 of all five and the top 11 in three of them. She has risen to No. 3 in the CME Standings and No. 6 in the Rolex World Rankings.
So why is Kim so underrated? The easy first theory is how long ago her lone major title was. Kim won the Evian Championship all the way back in 2014 and hasn’t gotten another since. She also went through a pretty significant winning drought, not winning from 2017-2020. She has won three events since 2020, leading to her six total wins on the LPGA Tour.
Expect big things to continue for Hyo Joo Kim in 2024, and expect her featured group slots to increase with that success.
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