NAPLES, Fla. – It’s still a “pinch me” moment for Grace Kim. The day she became a major champion, and how the 24-year-old rising star accomplished the feat.
Kim stood on the 18th fairway of the Evian on Sunday and, two shots behind Jeeno Thitikul, had to do something special to keep her major championship hopes alive. She pulled a hybrid and hit her approach within range of a tournament-tying eagle. In the play-offs, Kim’s sense of drama continued. She hit her approach in the hazard but made birdie to extend the playoff, which she ended on the next hole by burying a 15-foot Eagle Putt.
Major championships are not the same, and each brings something different to the winner.
For some it brings peace. For others, it provides trust and a sense of connection.
When Lydia Ko won the gold medal and the AIG Women’s Open to enter the Hall of Fame, she thought her entire life would change. Instead, the next day arrived and it looked much the same as the last.
“I guess I thought that my life, or maybe the way I thought about myself, would change if I got into the Hall of Fame and did a lot of the things I wanted to do before it actually happened, and I’m sure Rory [McIlroy] thinks the same in similar parts, where everyone thought, oh, Masters is the one he missed. Like what if? And then he did it,” Ko said at the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. “And while I’m sure he’s so happy and relieved, he’s just as good the day before as he was before he won it.
“I think I’ve made some peace with that.”
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Rory McIlroy won the Masters and was left lost looking for his next ‘Everest’. Maja Stark fell into a similar rut after winning the US Women’s Open.
Although the golf year was marked by post-achievement depression felt by McIlroy and, to a lesser extent, Stark, Kim’s dramatic win at the Evian gave her something different.
For Grace Kim, her win at the Evian gave her something she needed: something intangible that can’t be bought.
“I think my confidence definitely got a boost,” Kim said at the CME Group Tour Championship. “I still struggle here and there. Like golf just isn’t something that works out every week, and if you don’t have that confidence, I think knowing that you’ve made it happen still helps internally.”
That gripping major championship win in France gave Kim proof of the immense talent that others have always seen. It was concrete proof that she can be great.
That’s a lesson Kim is still learning all the time, even with the Evian Trophy in her house.
“I think I still struggle with self-confidence sometimes,” Kim said. “It’s just golf. Like it happens. I think that’s always going to be a learning experience. But sometimes I just have to trust that I’m better than I think sometimes. So yeah, just really engrave that in my mind.”
Golf can be detrimental to your self-confidence. It’s a brutal sport that punishes you for small mistakes and doesn’t want to let go when a spiral starts.
Many professionals see a sports psychologist to help with their mental struggles. McIlroy has enlisted the help of Bob Rotella, whose help was crucial during McIlroy’s wild Sunday at Augusta National in April.
Kim does not regularly visit a sports psychologist, but has received a few tips from Julie Elion.
“It’s definitely been more mental than physical over the years, and having a good team and I think it helps to have honest people around you,” Kim said. “I also think you just have to have honest conversations. It can be difficult with your team at such a level, but just being able to rely on my team to have that conversation.”
Winning a major championship helped Kim see herself in a new light. But the battle for self-confidence continues, and Kim, who like most of us is always hidden in a device, is working to turn a digital vice into a mental health tool.
“I’m always on my phone, so I’ve tried. Whether it’s Instagram or whatever, I’ve tried to follow a lot of positive pages,” Kim said. “I think it’s just a daily thing that I see every now and then. So that helps.”
When Kim hit the 15-foot Eagle Putt to beat Thitikul at the Evian, she saw what she was capable of. For some, that is a priceless sight; a sight that only the glow of major championship glory can provide.
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