Kim had a great year even though she missed out
on the top Rookie honors. She had 12 top tens, including the win
and runner-up finishes at the YTN Volvik and the Pak Se Ri Invitational,
where she lost a 5-hole playoff to Min Young Lee. She wound up making
nearly 419 million won for the year, good for 11th on the money
list.
Min Sun had a better 2015 season. Once again she
won one tournament, this time the EDaily Ladies Open in May. But
she made more money than in 2014, collecting over 450 million won,
and finished 7th on the money list. In addition to the win, she
added 10 other top tens, two of which were runner-up finishes. She
also played on the year-ending Kowa Queens Team, where she beat
her JLPGA opponent Shiho Oyama in the singles matches on the final
day, won one team match and halved the other one.
Kim's 2016 was similar to her 2015 season. She finished
8th on the money list, earning about 567 million won. She notched
one win, at the OK Savings Bank Pak Se Ri Invitational. She had
11 top tens in total, including two runner-ups and a third.
Kim had a fantastic run at her lone LPGA event of
the season. She got herself into contention at the KEB Hana Bank,
eventually winding up tied for third.
Kim also played two team events, the Kowa Queens
and the ING Champions, both times on the KLPGA squad. At the ING,
she teamed with Ji Hyun Kim to take down the LPGA's Jenny Shin and
Amy Yang, and with Hae Rym Kim to beat Eun Hee Ji and MJ Hur. She
lost the singles against Chella Choi. At the Kowa, Kim teamed with
Jiyai Shin to top the Japanese, and with Su Yeon Jang to beat Australia.
She also won the singles 4 & 3 against Ai Suzuki. As a result,
she was named the MVP for the event.
Min Sun had another solid season on the KLPGA in
2017. She won one tournament, the Nexen Saint Nine Masters, in April.
She also had six other top tens, including three second places,
but that was coupled with a number of missed cuts. Still, she finished
tenth on the money list, with 425 million won earned.
She played the ING Champions team event at year's
end. She won one team match and lost the other one, while skipping
the singles.
Min Sun had a lackluster 2018 season. She only finished
46th on the money list with 158 million won earned. Her only top
tens were a pair of fourth place finishes.
Min Sun improved somewhat in 2019. She finished
22nd on the money list with over 334 million won earned. She had
eight top tens, which included a second and a third place. She also
did quite well at her lone LPGA event of the year, the BMW Championship,
where she put herself in contention before finishing tied for 6th.
In 2020, the world was hit with the Covid19 pandemic.
All sports leagues, including the LPGA and KLPGA, were massively
affected by it; many events were canceled or shifted around the
schedule, and fans were forbidden from attending. Min Sun collected
another win at the McCol Open, but had only one other top ten, an
8th place finish. She earned 219 million won, placing her 17th on
the year's money list.
Kim struggled a lot more in 2021. She only made
91 million won, placing her at just 73rd on the money list. Her
best finish was a 10th at the Hite Cup.
For unknown reasons, Kim decided to change her name
to "Si Won Kim" in 2022. Perhaps the fact that there were
already multiple players with the name Min Sun Kim had something
to do with it; Min Sun Kim 7 was poised to join the tour as well.
In 2022, she missed most of the season, probably with injuries.
She played only four events and made just one cut, where she finished
tied for 42nd. She returned to action in 2023, playing two events
in December of 2022 for that season. She made one cut and finished
68th at that event.
Si Won Kim had a rough 2023 season; she made just
84 million won, 89th on the money list. She announced her reitrement
and played her final event at the S-OIL in November. Best of luck
to her in her future endeavors!
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