Kim Hyo-joo (31, Lotte), a nine-time LPGA Tour winner, is aiming for a title in Scotland, the "home of golf." The stage is Dundonald Links, where Kim has performed strongly with runner-up finishes last year and in 2023, and a tie for third in 2022. An analysis of recent winners' data makes Kim's winning formula clear: the "one shot on the green," the putt.
Kim will compete for the title at the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open (total prize money of 2 million dollars), held over four days from the 23rd at Dundonald Links (par 72) in North Ayrshire, Scotland, in the United Kingdom. Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour (LET), the event takes place ahead of the season's final major, the AIG Women's Open.
Dundonald Links is a classic links course battered by sea winds. The course itself describes the venue as "an open terrain with wide fairways, large and heavily undulating greens, exposed unprotected to sea winds." As a result, high-trajectory shots such as drives and iron shots are shaken by the variable of wind, while putts that roll close to the ground are relatively free from the influence of external conditions. This is why the putt inevitably becomes the final key that decides victory on this impregnable links course.
The records of past champions since the tournament first began at this course in 2022 prove this. Excluding last year's winner Lottie Woad (England), the 2024 winner Lauren Coughlin (United States), 2023 winner Celine Boutier (France), and 2022 winner Ayaka Furue (Japan) all won thanks to outstanding putting. In the "SG: Putting" category, which measures strokes gained through putting, all of them ranked No. 1 among the field. Last year's winner Woad also ranked sixth in this category.
The champions also displayed precision in the putts-per-hole average when hitting the green in regulation. This metric shows the average number of putts when reaching the green in one shot on par 3 holes, two on par 4 holes, and three on par 5 holes. Most past winners, including Woad (1.66 putts, sixth), Coughlin (1.67 putts, first), and Furue (1.57 putts, second), placed at the top of this category when they won. Boutier managed only 1.75 putts (16th) in 2023 when she won, but in 2022, when she finished runner-up, she topped the entire field with 1.49 putts, demonstrating that precise putting is an essential condition for competing for the title.
Kim, too, has moved into contention at Dundonald Links whenever her putting came alive. In 2023, when she finished runner-up, she ranked fifth in SG: Putting (2.14 strokes), and last year she read Dundonald's greens perfectly, ranking second in putts per hole when hitting the green (1.62 putts) and 10th in SG: Putting (1.50 strokes).
With Kim's putting touch at its peak this season, a win is also within expectation. Kim currently ranks No. 1 overall on the LPGA Tour in both average putts per green in regulation (1.69 putts) and average putts per hole (1.56 putts). Her greens-in-regulation rate of 67.46% (69th) is somewhat disappointing, but once she reaches the green, she finishes with fewer putts than anyone. On top of that, her overall form has risen sharply, with two wins each on the LPGA Tour and the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour this season.
On the links stage, where shot uncertainty is high, victory ultimately belongs to those who show reliable putting ability on the green. Kim's first Scottish title, too, is expected to be completed at the tip of her putter.
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