Grace Kim produced one of the most dramatic major championship finishes in history, going eagle, birdie, eagle over her final three holes to win the Amundi Evian Championship. It was her second LPGA title and first career major.

Kim was playing sick all week and coughing heavily during her final round at Evian Resort in France. When she double bogeyed the 12th hole she was three shots back and seemingly out of it. But she roared back with birdies on 15 and 16, then hit an incredible approach shot on the par-5 18th hole from 188 yards and made the gimme eagle putt to force a playoff with World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who had an eight-footer for birdie to win on the 18th hole but missed.

That set up the thrilling playoff.

Kim and Thitikul each shot four-under 67s to finish at 14-under total for the championship.

On the first playoff hole, Kim again was seemingly out of it when she badly sliced her approach into a water hazard. But somehow she chipped in for birdie.

“Obviously I was pretty bummed to find out that my ball was in the middle of the water,” Kim said. “But, again, it’s not quite finished until the very end. I wasn’t worried. Dropped the ball, and it kind of ended up in a pretty decent lie and just wanted to make sure I got it there. Just happened to have chipped it in. I don’t know if I can do it again. That was great. All three times I played that 18th hole today, I hit the same club, which was a 4-hybrid. That will be staying in the bag.”

With pressure to extend the championship, Thitikul made her birdie putt after Kim’s chip-in birdie to go to a second playoff hole. That’s where Thitikul hit her ball into the rough and had fire ants swarming it. Kim made a 10-foot eagle putt to win and put her hands to her face, almost in disbelief.

Yes, that’s an eagle, birdie, eagle finish to win a major championship, something Kim admitted that she’s thought about often.

“I thought about it before I made the putt,” she said. “Probably shouldn’t have, but that’s OK. Got me more nervous. I remember Ayaka [Furue] putting in a similar line [last year to win]. I think I’ve had a lot of double breakers this week and that was one of them for sure. Just looked straight at the hole. That’s what my caddie told me to do and I did it. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how I’m in here already since then. It just all happened quickly, but I’m glad I’m sitting here for sure.”

Kim won $1.2 million from the $8 million purse. She previously won the 2023 Lotte Championship and came into this week ranked 99th in the world. She’s the fifth Australian to win a major, following in the footsteps of Karrie Webb, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Jan Stephenson.

English amateur star Lottie Woad tied for third after shooting seven-under 64. She even led at points during the final round and was tied for the lead when she finished. Still, her third-place tie gave her the crucial two points she needed through the LPGA’s new LEAP program to earn an LPGA card whenever she opts to accept it. She can do so now and have status for the rest of the year and all of next. Or she can return to college at Florida State and collect her card next year.

“I’m just going to take the next week and discuss with my family and coaches and then I’ll make a decision after that,” Woad said.

With Woad one shot out of a playoff, it was Thitikul and Kim who then produced the massive thriller in France. Thitikul was also looking for her first major title. In fact, had she won she would’ve ascended to the World No. 1 position ahead of Nelly Korda, who tied for 43rd place and has not won this season.

Although Kim had said that she’s battled nerves and struggles to get into the winner’s circle more often in her young professional career, that didn’t appear to be the case late Sunday with everything on the line in France.

“Obviously, it’s a huge achievement for me,” Kim said. “I’ve had a lot of doubts early this year. I was kind of losing motivation. I kind of had to get some hard conversations done with the team. Kind of had to wake up a little bit.

“To be sitting here next to this trophy is definitely surreal. Obviously, caught a bit of a cold early this week as well, so I was kind of knowing that I wasn’t 100 percent. But, again, even if I’m 80 percent I’ll give my 100 percent of that 80. There was no stopping me this week.”

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Stuart Franklin

Kim said there were times all week where she was trying to hold back coughs while her playing partners were putting. The worst of it came Saturday. Thankfully for her, the best golf came Sunday.

Thitikul and Kim are friends and talked to one another throughout the round. It was, however, tough for Thitikul to not close out the win for what would’ve been her first major and fourth overall LPGA win since June. When Kim drained her winning eagle putt on the second playoff hole, Thitikul clapped.

“I think I’m so proud of myself on battling out there today,” Thitikul said. “I know like it’s going to be a tough day, it’s going to be a long day, but I just want to say I’m so proud of myself and what I did out there.”

There were 18 tournaments with 18 different winners, and Kim is now the 19th different winner on tour this season. This is the longest stretch in LPGA history without having someone win at least two tournaments this far into the season.

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Main Image: ALEX MARTIN