A LIM KIM

2018 was A Lim's breakout year on tour. She led the league in driving distance, and her power saw her start to make some noise at last. In May, she managed a third place finish, then followed that up with a loss in the finals of the Doosan Match Play. She managed to take legendary Inbee Park all the way to the final hole before losing. She followed that up with another runner up finish the following week.

Kim finally broke through with her first career win at the Pak Se Ri Invitational in October. In all, she had eight top tens during the year, including the win, two seconds and a third. She finished 6th on the money list with more than 586 million won earned.

At the end of the season, Kim qualified to play at the OrangeLife Champions Trophy for the KLPGA team. She teamed with Ji Hyun Kim to take down Sung Hyun Park and Lydia Ko in a team match, and with Jeong Eun Lee 6 to beat Mi Hyang Lee and Chella Choi. In singles, she beat Danielle Kang. A Lim was named the MVP for the KLPGA squad, although the team lost the match 13-11.

A Lim Kim had a great 2019 season. She finished 11th on the money list, earning more than 528 million won for the year. She had ten top tens during the year, and one win, the MY Moonyoung Queens Park Championship in July.

Kim also played for the KLPGA team at the OrangeLife KLPGA-LPGA team competition. She teamed with Min Ji Park to beat MJ Hur and Jeongeun Lee6 4 & 3, and when teamed with Ji Hyun Kim beat Jin Young Ko and MJ Hur 2 & 1 . In singles, she crushed So Yeon Ryu 4 & 2. She won the MVP award for the KLPGA team. The KLPGA won the match 15-9.

In 2020, the whole world was rocked by the Covid-19 pandemic. The LPGA and KLPGA tours canceled and postponed many tournaments. Kim got out to a slow start on the KLPGA; she did not have her first top 20 until her 11th event. It took until late October, at the HuenCare Women's Open, before she cracked the top ten. But she did finish her year with four top tens, allowing her to earn 187 million won, good for 21st on the money list.

Kim was lucky that the US Women's Open was not able to have its usual qualifying tournaments because of Covid; instead, they invited the top 100 golfers to play without needing to qualify. Kim was just 94th in the world, but thus earned a ticket to Houston for the event, which took place in December, six months after it was originally to be played.

Kim took full advantage. She was in contention all week, and entered the final round just five back. She charged up the leaderboard on Sunday, but with three holes left, she was still behind by two shots. That's when she executed one of the most amazing finishes in the history of the event: three straight birdies to shoot a 67 and enter the clubhouse with a one shot lead. No one was able to catch her, and so, unbelievably, A Lim Kim won!

She was the lowest ranked player to win the event since the Rolex Rankings had started. She also seems to have been the only to ever win by finishing with three straight birdies to capture a single-shot win. She was the third player to win in her first try at the event, joining Birdie Kim and In Gee Chun. AND, it was not only her first time at the Open, it was her first EVER Major and first ever event in the States. Amazing!

Kim had just a week to decide if she wanted to take her LPGA tour card. She said yes, and will join the 2020-2021 Rookie class in 2021.

Kim also played for the KLPGA team at the annual OrangeLife Champions trophy event, which took place this year in the summer. She teamed with Hae Ran Ryu to beat Jeongeun Lee6 and Jiyai Shin. In singles, she tied Seon Woo Bae. The KLPGA team won, 10.5 - 7.5 points.

A Lim worked hard to prepare for her rookie year on the LPGA. She finished 47th on the money list, easily earning a full card for 2022. She had a few highlights and some lowlights. She was not able to seriously contend for the top rookie award once Patty Tavatanakit from Thailand won the first Major (remember that Kim's Major did not count, as she had not been a member at that time). Her best result was a tie for third at the BMW, her home country event. She also had a tie for third in the team event, paired with fellow rookie Yealimi Noh. She managed two other top tens besides.

A Lim had a much better second season on tour in 2022. She once again made 4 top tens, including a tie for 10th again when teamed with Yealimi Noh at the Dow team event. Her best finish was a solo fifth at the Canadian Women's Open. She only missed one cut all year, and earned nearly $750,000, a huge improvement over 2021.

A Lim returned to play on the KLPGA and won the KLPGA Championship, one of the five Majors on that tour. She was teamed in the first two rounds with Ina Yoon, the young rookie who was one of the few Korean golfers capable of hitting it as far as she could. They quickly became fast friends, as the older Kim took Yoon on as a younger sister of sorts.

A Lim had her best LPGA season yet in 2023. Although she wasn't able to get a win, she did manage to contend at the Chevron Championship (finishing t-4th) and the Evian (finishing t-3rd). She had three top tens all years but a lot more top 20s and ended up earning over $880,000 for the year, her career best. This was good for 32nd on the money list, also a career best.

A Lim also played a few times in Korea. She finished t-22nd at the KLPGA Championship and tied for 15th at the Hanwha Classic.