Korean rookie Kim Sei-young picks up third 2015 LPGA win in Hainan

Korean rookie Kim Sei-young picks up third 2015 LPGA win in Hainan. November. 03, 2015 08:07. kjs0123@donga.com.

“I’m eating ramen for breakfast. Had a little party last night.”

Kim Sei-young (Mirae Asset, 22)’s voice through the phone sounded excited even early in the morning. After she won the Blue Bay LPGA held in Hainan Island, China on Sunday, she had gone to sing Karaoke at the hotel with her colleagues.

Picking up her third LPGA victory this season, Kim is scheduled to participate in the Mexico Championship and the Tour Championship in Florida. She seems to have virtually reserved the spot for this year’s Best Rookie Award, as she jumped to the 4th in the prize money winning a total of 172 million dollars. She has also taken the 8th place in the global ranking last week, moving up from the 11th. “I was a little bit discouraged for having no victory since the Bahamas and the Hawaii Championships, but now I am happy that I have achieved my goal of making 3 victories this year," Kim said. "I will do my best in the upcoming Tour Championship.”

Kim has earned all her three victories at golf courses located near the coasts. “Maybe I would like to buy a seaside house in the future," she said. "The green at the Blue Bay Golf Course was very rough, and the wind was strong. So I had to concentrate more."

Kim left Korea being half excited and half afraid earlier this year, but she has had a more than successful rookie season in the LPGA Tour so far. Asked about the secret, she said, "Each course has different green conditions so I had to be well prepared for shots.” She practiced chip shots for a couple of hours each day and was trained for bunker shots from a young age. Besides, her English skills also seem to have improved significantly so that she can now have interviews with local broadcasts.

Kim Sei-young says she loves to sing BMK’s “When the spring comes.” The young female golfer’s spring has yet to come.