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Sei Young Kim takes 2-shot lead despite stumble at JM Eagle LA Championship

April 19, 2026

TARZANA — The good news for Sei Young Kim after three rounds of the JM Eagle LA Championship was that she successfully increased her lead in the tournament from one shot to two shots. The bad news for the winner of 13 LPGA Tour titles is that after nine holes of Saturday’s round, she actually led the field by eight shots and had total control of the tournament.

Kim played her opening nine holes at 5-under 31, making the turn at 19 under, heading to the back nine, where she was a combined 9 under par during the first two rounds. But after making par on the first four holes on the back nine, Kim bogeyed the next four holes she played, breaking the streak with an up-and-down par behind the green on 18.

Kim’s 54-hole total of 15-under 201 leaves her two shots ahead of a group of four players that includes Hannah Green, a two-time winner of this event, as well as Suvichaya Vinijchaitham, Jessica Porvasnik and Ina Yoon, all who finished at 13 under. A trio of golfers that includes Patty Tavatanakit, Jin Hee Im and Melannie Green is three shots out of the lead with a 54-hole score of 12 under. Mi Hyang Lee is four strokes back, while a group of six, including Lottie Woad and Allisen Corpuz, is five shots behind.

Just like Rory McIlroy did with his lackluster play in the third round of last week’s Masters, Kim’s late-round swoon breathed new life into the hopes of winning for a large chunk of the field.

“Wow, it felt like a rollercoaster,” an exasperated Kim said following her Jekyll and Hyde third round. “Front nine, I played quite solid, much like the last two days. I was thinking when I walked to the back nine, the last holes would be downwind, so it’s not going to be easy. But instead, it was really tough. Sport sometimes really good and sometimes really bad. I’m going to practice and hopefully wake up fresher and be ready for tomorrow.”

Despite her back-nine meltdown, it should be of some comfort to Kim that over the course of her career, when she has a 54-hole lead, she has sealed the deal seven out of 11 chances and in several of those wins, she increased the lead during the final round.

While Kim’s exceptional ability to close out tournaments might not be something that Green and the rest of the players trying to chase her down want to hear, knowing she’s only trailing by two shots instead of the much larger number she expected when she finished her round on Saturday has to be great news for Green.

Green said she actually struggled during Saturday’s round more than she had in the first two, but she somehow found a way to not only hold things together. She birdied two of her first three holes and finished her front nine at 3 under. After two pars to open her back nine, Green bogeyed the 12th hole but bounced back with three birdies down the stretch to finish with a 5-under 67.

I was hitting the ball well the previous two rounds, so today caught me off guard a little bit,” Green said. “Felt like I hit it better off the tee, but a couple wayward drives that kind of made it a bit tricky to make a par. I didn’t hit many greens, so I really had to scramble today. I did have a chip in, and the rest of the shots I had, I left myself in all right positions. After this, I’ll go hit a few balls, which I don’t normally do that after a round, but I feel like I need to tidy it up.”

Green left for the practice area, believing that Kim was going to stretch her lead out and that she and the rest of the field would be playing for second place on Sunday. But with Kim’s late round meltdown, Green has a chance to claim her third JM Eagle LA Championship if she can post a good final round, something she has done both times she won the title.

She admits that with the course continuing to firm up, having success on Sunday will require her to be both aggressive and tactical.

“It’s going to be really difficult,” Green said. “On this golf course, you can easily see how there are birdies to be made. It’s also quite difficult sometimes to make some pars. I don’t really know where they put the pin locations for tomorrow, but I’m sure they’ll be tricky, and there will be some holes that will probably play easy. The last two days, the wind is switched at times, so that will be tricky to manage. The ball is going far off the tee. The fairways are bouncy, and the greens are getting firmer. I just got to try and focus on my game as much as possible, which obviously is easier said than done.”

Like Green, both Tavatanakit and Vinijchaitham each posted a 5-under 67 on Saturday to get themselves into the mix heading into the final round. Tavatanakit, who played collegiate golf at UCLA, has won twice on the LPGA Tour but it has been two years since her last win.

“I feel like it’s been a long time since I’m just like out there playing golf, so I’m just going to do that,” Tavatanakit said. “I’m just going to give myself one task, and I’m just going to go do it and just play golf.”

Saturday’s third round got an extra jolt of excitement from off the course. During the Golf Channel broadcast, JM Eagle Chairman and CEO Walter Wang announced he was increasing the tournament purse by $1 million, effective immediately, taking it from $3.75 million to $4.75 million and increasing the winner’s share to $715,000. The increase makes the JM Eagle LA Championship the largest non-major purse on the LPGA Tour.

Twenty minutes before breaking the news live on the air, Wang called LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler to make sure it was ok to increase the purse in the middle of the tournament. When Kessler gave him the green light, Wang let everyone know about his plan.

It is the latest in a series of major upgrades Wang and his wife Shirley have made to the tournament, including doubling the purse when they took over as title sponsor four years ago.

“I felt like it was time to do it,” Wang said. “I don’t think any other title sponsor has raised the purse during the tournament. It is good to be a pioneer. The best part is elevating the LPGA and honoring these ladies. When we doubled the purse when we took over four years ago, many of the other sponsors followed suit and the average purse went up 70 percent. Now we have done it again, so hopefully others will follow again.”

Not surprisingly, the news of the purse increase was met by awe and thanks from the players in the field.

“Amazing news for all us players,” Green said. “I really think when they (the Wangs) jumped on board for this tournament, all the other tournaments felt like they had to also increase their purses and also raise the bar with getting hotel rooms or cars, whatever it may be. They’ve definitely been the trendsetter for other events on Tour. I’m not surprised that Walter announced that today.”

Tavatanakit called JM Eagle and the Wangs the best partners the LPGA players have.

“To be able to receive the support from them and for them to be so excited to grow this game with us, it’s just — it means a lot,” Tavatanakit said. “I feel like women’s golf is growing so much, and there are so many young girls that just picked up the sport, and I feel like ultimately like that’s a great thing.”

Yoon said the increased prize money will add to the excitement and pressure she will feel as she tries to win her first LPGA tournament.

“It’s big. I feel like I need to do a better job of playing golf tomorrow,” Yoon said. “Really thankful to JM Eagle for giving us the good opportunity to have a good competition.”

Orange County Register

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Sei Young Kim takes 2-shot lead despite stumble at JM Eagle LA Championship

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