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LPGA Pro Hits Brutal Shank on the Final Hole of the Chevron Championship

A Lim Kim’s approach shot on the 18th hole was painful to watch.

Gabrielle Herzig

LPGA Pro Hits Brutal Shank on the Final Hole of the Chevron Championship
LPGA Pro Hits Brutal Shank on the Final Hole of the Chevron Championship /

If you thought the feeling of hitting a dead shank couldn’t get any worse, think again. A Lim Kim, a South Korean LPGA Tour player, just hit a true hosel rocket on the 72nd hole of a major championship.

Kim is no stranger to the nerves that come down the final stretch, yet something still managed to go wrong on Sunday afternoon in Houston. 

The 27-year-old, who won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open, was very much in contention at this year’s Chevron Championship—the first major of the LPGA season. 

Kim headed into the 18th hole with a chance to make eagle and tie Lilia Vu’s clubhouse lead. Instead, her approach shot into the par-5 practically traveled sideways. 

Going for the green in two, Kim’s ball caught the hosel of her iron and with a loud crack, it sailed into the right rough. Somehow, Kim managed to compose herself and make a par after the dreadful shot. 

Her playing partner, Atthaya Thitikul, also finished with a major hiccup, but she wasn’t able to clean up like Kim did. 

The 20-year-old from Thailand hit her approach into the water hazard to the left of the green and ultimately finished with a double bogey. A par would have given Thitikul a chance to compete with the eventual champion and Angel Yin in a sudden-death playoff. 

Despite Kim’s classy recovery from the shank, the shot produced quite the reaction from golf fans on Twitter. 

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Gabrielle Herzig
GABRIELLE HERZIG

Gabrielle Herzig is a Breaking and Trending News writer for Sports Illustrated Golf. Previously, she worked as a Golf Digest Contributing Editor, an NBC Sports Digital Editorial Intern, and a Production Runner for FOX Sports at the site of the 2018 U.S. Open. Gabrielle graduated as a Politics Major from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a four-year member and senior-year captain of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s golf team. In her junior year, Gabrielle studied abroad in Scotland for three months, where she explored the Home of Golf by joining the Edinburgh University Golf Club.

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