Yealimi Noh had a less-than-27% chance of winning the 2025 Founders Cup today by the time her group arrived on the 13th tee box. After walking onto the 15th tee, her chances of winning increased exponentially to 82.7%.
Noh had some low-scoring rounds this week – all in the 60s – with a 64 on Friday and 63 on Saturday. She shot a bogey-free 68 today to beat Jin Young Ko by four strokes. It’s no surprise Noh led the field in birdies (24) this week and only missed 5 greens the entire tournament.
This was Noh’s first LPGA Tour victory since her rookie year in 2020, and she handled it like the pro she is. Noh says about her win, “Yeah, it was amazing. Being paired with Jin Young for the last two days, it was my first time playing with her
yesterday and it was awesome to watch. I knew she wasn’t going to make any mistakes and be really solid.
When I saw my opportunity and I kept it together, I was really proud of myself. It was awesome to watch her
play and learn from her, too.”
Ko had a spectacular week as well, going 95 holes before bogeying. Ko has finished in the top-5 since the LPGA Tour season started. She says, “Yeah, I mean, overall I had so great last couple weeks, and, yeah, it’s going to be big year for me I guess…I’m just the happiest person in the world.”
We also saw some familiar names atop the leaderboard. Recent Solheim Cup winner Megan Khang came in third at Bradenton Country Club for the second year in a row, and Aussie Hannah Green tied for fourth with Japan’s Miyu Yamashita and Korea’s Jin Hee Im. Nelly Korda finished top-10 again this week in a tie for 7th.
Lexi Thompson and Brittany Lincicome also returned to the course this week to honor the LPGA’s 13 founders. This event initially began as a charity tournament in 2011 and has grown into a regular stop on the LPGA Tour with a purse of $2 million.
This week, the LPGA Tour takes a break before heading into their Asian swing of events. They’ll tee off in Thailand on February 20th.
