Gina Kim and Yana Wilson are the newest winners on the LPGA Tour after they combined for an 8-under-par 62 Sunday to win the Dow Championship, the tour’s only team event, at Midland (Mich.) Country Club.
Kim eagled the par-4 fifth hole and Wilson sank three of the team’s four birdies on the back nine to wrap up a two-shot win at 17-under 263 for the week.
South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi and Hyo Joo Kim (65) took second place, and two teams tied for third at 14 under: Koreans Jin Hee Im and Somi Lee (61) and Alison Lee and Lilia Vu (64).
The tournament used foursomes (alternate shot) as the format on Thursday and Saturday, while four-ball (best ball), considered the easier of the two formats, was reserved for Friday and Sunday.
Wilson, a teenage rookie, became the first 19-year-old to win on the LPGA Tour since Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen in 2023.
“It feels awesome,” Wilson said. “Yeah, just to do it alongside Gina, someone who I really trust and someone whose game is frickin’ awesome, it’s just awesome. I really have no words.”
Kim, 26, had one career top-10 finish before this week. And neither she nor Wilson are ranked anywhere close to the top 100 in the world. But now, they’ve secured full LPGA status for two years and qualified for the two remaining majors, the Women’s Open and the Evian Championship.
“I’m just glad I don’t have to do qualifying anymore. At least up until next year,” Kim said. “I was in that playoff with Rose Zhang (at a U.S. Open final qualifying site) and I was like, ‘Rose, one of these days it’s my dream to not have to do these dang qualifiers. My knees hurt. My hips hurt. Everything hurts. I would love to see a schedule where I didn’t to have fit qualifiers in.'”
Kim said she was “late to the game” in finding a partner for the tournament and thought of Wilson, with whom she had played on the Epson Tour.
“I didn’t know if I was going to play in this event to be honest, because I had been asked by a couple other people,” Wilson said. “I just didn’t feel comfortable saying yes to them; I just felt really comfortable picking Gina as my partner.
“… If you watch this girl hit the ball, oh, my gosh. I could learn a thing or two for sure. Yeah, I mean, it was the easiest decision I’ve made.”
Kim described her hole-out eagle at No. 5 as a tone-setter.
“Oh, gosh, I was not expecting it,” she said. “I knew I hit a really good shot and I was thinking, ‘Oh, OK, maybe I’ll tap in for birdie and then it just disappeared.'”
Wilson birdied Nos. 10, 14 and 17. The latter two holes gave her and Kim a two-shot lead and a three-shot cushion, respectively.
Choi and Kim led by one stroke after the third round and carded five birdies without a bogey for their 65, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the victors.
Juli Inkster, the 65-year-old World Golf Hall of Famer, teamed up with Angel Yin for this event and the pair shot their best score of the week, a 64, to tie for 12th at 9 under. On Friday, Inkster broke the record for the oldest player to make the cut in an official LPGA event.
“We had an amazing time out there,” Inkster said. “Angel played amazing today. But it was fun. I think we played loose. You know, I helped out when I could but Angel was a driving force; but I was just glad to be by her side and her partner.”
