‘Hard to believe’: Aussie opens up on ‘weird’ superstar reality... and text that left her stunned

Australia’s strong LPGA contingent are not letting the nation’s newest golf star Grace Kim get complacent after her astonishing victory at the Evian Championship earlier this month.

Kim’s maiden major triumph was hailed across the globe for one of the greatest finishes in the history of the sport when she defeated world No.2 Jeeno Thitikul in a playoff in France.

The 24-year-old from Sydney finished her fourth round with a stunning birdie-birdie-par-eagle run before chipping in for birdie to stay alive on the first playoff hole after hitting an errant second shot in the water.

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She then clinched the title with an eagle at the second playoff hole courtesy of a pearler of a second shot into the par 5 18th green with a 4-hybrid like she did on the 72nd hole.

It truly was a star is born moment.

Miracle streak lifts Grace Kim to glory | 03:25

Kim became the toast of Australian sport overnight, and understandably, her phone blew up with texts and Instagram direct messages from the who’s who of Australian sport.

She was appreciative of words of congratulations from the likes of seven-time major winner Karrie Webb, whose annual scholarship for budding Australian female golfers Kim was a recipient of, and three-time tennis grand slam champion Ashleigh Barty.

Kim was even caught by surprise by a message from ‘The Great White Shark’ himself.

“Greg Norman started following me on Instagram and he left me a message saying ‘well done, it was a great finish’,” she recalled.

“I said ‘oh my god, the Greg Norman just message me, thank you so much’, but to be honest, I thought it was his agent or someone.

“I didn’t expect a response back, but he responded back again so that was pretty cool.”

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In the average sport fan’s social media feed, Kim’s fellow Australians went viral for their reactions to her famous chip-in.

Imagery and footage of them storming the 18th green to spray their countrywoman in champagne, as she had done for their past successes, also spread far and wide.

Stephanie Kyriacou was one of those Australians who took great delight in her childhood friend’s success, but she said earlier this week ahead of the AIG Women’s Open, starting Thursday at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, that she needs to “get a wriggle on” to keep up with Kim.

When asked about the reception she has received from her fellow Australians since the Evian Championship in an exclusive interview with foxsports.com.au, Kim said that the likes of Kyriacou have taken it upon themselves to ensure that she does not get ahead of herself.

“I give them a little bit of banter as usual and they just comeback with ‘oh, now that you’re a major champ’,” Kim said with a laugh.

Kim's "WIZARDRY" from the penalty area | 01:28

The world No.26 was also humbled on the golf course last week, missing the cut at the Women’s Scottish Open in her first start since becoming a major champion.

Kim shot rounds of 73 and 76 to miss the weekend by four shots at Dundonald Links as her new title sat uncomfortably with her.

“It felt weird,” she said of arriving at a tournament as a major champion for the first time.

“Obviously I got a lot of congratulations, and it’s still weird to hear it.

“The congratulations part is fine, but people say like ‘hey, major champ’ and it’s a bit funny still.

“They’ve posted about me a few times (on social media) and said ‘the major champ is in town’ and even that I’m like, it’s hard to believe.”

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JULY 13: Grace Kim of Australia poses for a photograph with The Amundi Evian Championship 2025 trophy following the final round of The Amundi Evian Championship 2025 at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 13, 2025 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

The added attention was certainly a shock to the system after a week of relative anonymity, aside from being recognised at Geneva Airport by a man holding a newspaper open to a photo of her holding the trophy, immediately following her Evian Championship victory.

Kim enjoyed a week in London with her mother, whose maiden European trip was made all the more special by her daughter’s incredible French performance.

“It was just mum and I, so that was already very nice,” she said.

“We took some time to shop around and it’s actually her first time in Europe.

“Obviously had a great week the first week, and I just wanted to take the time to show her around London.

“We had some good food, walked around some markets and did all the tourist spots like Big Ben.

“Which just had a nice, mellow time, which is kind of all I need.”

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Kim 18th eagle: "One of the greatest!" | 02:14

Kim’s preference for a slower pace may be the silver lining to her Scottish shortcomings.

Missing the weekend action allowed her to travel south to Wales sooner, and get to work ahead of the final women’s major of the year where the nine Australians in the field are chasing an unprecedented third straight major victory by a golfer representing the green and gold.

“It’s been a minute since I played links golf so dusting off the rust last week, but I think it was a great opportunity to come down early,” Kim said.

“So, we drove Saturday and came here early, and did a bit of technical work early.

“Feeling good. We’re back on track and working the wind direction well, and adjusting to the green speeds well.

“Kind of learned a few more techniques for around the greens. So, confidence is building, for sure.”

TROON, SCOTLAND - JULY 23: Grace Kim of Australia smiles on the 18th green during the Pro-Am prior to the ISPS HANDA Women's Scottish Open 2025 at Dundonald Links Golf Course on July 23, 2025 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Kate McShane/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

Despite her bubbly personality, confidence has not always come easily to Kim on the golf course.

She was an elite junior, winning a Youth Olympics gold medal in 2018 as well as both the Australian Junior and the Australian Amateur titles.

Upon turning professional late in 2021, she rose through the ranks quickly, graduating from the secondary United States Tour, the Epson Tour, to the LPGA at the first attempt.

Roughly 18 months after turning professional, Kim was an LPGA champion, bursting onto the scene with a victory at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii in her debut season.

But there were also near misses heartbreaks both at home at the Australian Open and overseas, such as when she was beaten in a playoff at the Meijer LPGA Classic last year after starting the final round with a five-shot lead.

The pressure was mounting this year before Evian as time was running out on her two year winner’s exemption.

Her place was far from secured in the LPGA’s season ending events, nor was it on the Australian team for the International Crown - a biennial LPGA event in Hawaii where eight national teams compete against one another.

TROON, SCOTLAND - JULY 23: Grace Kim of Australia plays a shot on the 18th hole during the Pro-Am prior to the ISPS HANDA Women's Scottish Open 2025 at Dundonald Links Golf Course on July 23, 2025 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Kate McShane/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

“Before Evian, I think I was like 99th in the world so I was stressing about making sure I keep my card because it was my last year for the winner’s category from my Hawaii win,” Kim said.

“The stress of getting into International Crown was in there.

“The stress of getting into the back end of the year tournaments was there.

“Now, that’s obviously off the table, so that’s settled my mind a little bit and lowered the stress levels, which is nice.

“But I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.

“I’m not going to take too many tournaments out of my schedule, but I do have a good chunk of time at home this off season to develop my game.

“I don’t have much of a project to take time off right now.

“I’m just going to keep chipping away and keep doing what I’ve been doing.”

Masters hero returns for Aussie Summer | 01:02

Time at home is on the cards during the Australian summer.

The Sydneysider frequents her home course of Avondale Golf Club when at back on home soil, and is often beating the male professionals who play on the PGA Tour of Australasia and also call Avondale home.

She currently has her fingers crossed that the LPGA schedule will be clear to allow her to play in the Australian Open in March now that the tournament has return to a stand-alone format rather than being held in conjunction with the men in December, immediately following the LPGA’s Tour Championship, as it was for the last three years.

Kim’s pride and passion for Australian golf is something that has been partly instilled in by Webb through the scholarship experience.

When Kim was just a teenager, Webb flew her out to America and she just so happened to be there when Hannah Green won the 2019 Women’s PGA Championship.

With her win at the Evian, Kim became the fifth Australian female golfer ever to win a major, and the third active player alongside Green and three-time major champion Minjee Lee.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JULY 13: Grace Kim of Australia poses for a photograph with The Amundi Evian Championship 2025 trophy following the final round of The Amundi Evian Championship 2025 at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 13, 2025 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Paul Devlin/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

All three of whom have come through Webb’s self-funded scholarship program, and Kim said a catch up is in order when they return to the US.

“I lost my voice like Saturday to Tuesday so I couldn’t get to call her, but I called on Wednesday and we FaceTimed, and obviously she was very happy,” Kim said of Webb after her Evian victory.

“She said that she’s never screamed at a TV and jumped so high at the same time.

“For her to be able to feel those emotions (is really special).

“We’ve come along way and we’ve built that relationship.

“But we are planning to meet up and talk about how far we’ve all come.

“Obviously me, Minjee, Greeny we’ve all come through her scholarship program and it just reflects how much she’s done for us.”

Kim crowned Champion after wild playoff | 12:20

“Through that we’ve had three major winners now so hopefully we get some good quality time to talk about how good we all are,” she added with a chuckle.

They will all be no doubt hoping for major success to talk about at that dinner after this week’s AIG Women’s Open.

Australian golfers have a good record on the British links, but Webb was the last to triumph there in 2002.

Kim believes her and her countrywomen can lean on their memories of taking the junior ranks by storm to end that 23-year drought on the Welsh coast this week.

“It definitely reminds us back of our junior days,” she said of links golf.

BRIDGEND, WALES - JULY 28: Grace Kim of Australia during a photo call prior to the AIG Women's Open 2025 at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club on July 28, 2025 in Bridgend, Wales. (Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

“That’s where we developed our skills, those shots like bump and runs and things like that.

“The main difference I noticed the first time I played UK links courses was how slow the greens were.

“Because obviously Sandbelt it’s running at 14 all the time (on the stimpmeter) where here it’s just ten.

“I think we’ve all got a great understanding of how to work around the course, but you always learn a little bit more each year, just what you can do a little bit better because it is a little bit different.”

Kim’s 4-hybrid entered Australian golf folklore with her shots into the 18th green at the Evian, but fans should not expect similar high ball flights that roll back towards the hole from the back of the green this time around.

“The 4-hybrid I think will be more of a bump and runner this week,” she said with a laugh.

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