Golf Lessons: Four Tips For Lower Scores From Sei Young Kim

Sei Young Kim fired a 10-under 62 in the opening round of the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea this past week. That scorching number set up a wire-to-wire victory that showcased one of golf's trickiest mental challenges: staying hot when you've already caught fire.

The 2020 KPMG Women's PGA Champion's first round was exceptional. Twelve of fourteen fairways. A 259-yard average off the tee. Just 26 putts. Seventeen of eighteen greens hit. But blistering starts come with a trap built in. You feel pressure to replicate that performance. You second-guess what got you there. Either impulse can wreck even the best players.

So how do you avoid letting up? Four lessons from Kim's week provide answers.

The Tip: Run the same pre-shot routine on every shot, from the opening tee ball to the final putt.

Why It's Important: Playing well makes everything feel effortless, so you rush. Or you sense a lead building and try to protect it by slowing down. Both hurt you.

Why It Works: Your routine locks you into the present. It creates stability no matter what's happening around you. Sticking to it signals to your body that this is just another golf shot, which keeps tension from creeping in and killing your flow.

Action Item: Write out your pre-shot routine in detail. Time yourself going through it on three straight shots. If you stray from that timing by more than a couple seconds during your round, back off and start over.

The Tip: After a hot start, pay attention to what you control rather than watching your total climb.

Why It's Important: Kim found twelve fairways and seventeen greens because she stayed focused on execution instead of results. Worrying about protecting a lead shifts you into defense mode. That makes you tentative.

Why It Works: Process goals anchor you to the shot in front of you instead of letting your mind drift forward. When you're locked in on committing to a target line, you're not calculating whether this might be a career round.

Action Item: Pick three process goals before your next round. Things like "commit fully to every target" or "keep tempo smooth." After each hole, give yourself a grade from one to three on those processes. Ignore your score.

The Tip: Keep attacking with your strengths while making prudent choices in areas where you're vulnerable.

Why It's Important: Kim averaged 259 yards off the tee while hitting twelve of fourteen fairways. She didn't suddenly try crushing it 280 yards. But she also didn't dial back to safe 230-yard pokes.

Why It Works: Momentum disappears when you get reckless or when you play scared. Aggressive conservatism means you attack when the odds favor you and make smart layups when they don't.

Action Item: Before you tee off, identify your three best clubs and your two worst — plan to be aggressive with your strengths. For your weaknesses, decide on conservative strategies ahead of time. This eliminates in-the-moment decisions that can derail you.

The Tip: Build a physical or mental trigger that brings you back to neutral after every shot.

Why It's Important: Kim still missed a green and two fairways during that brilliant opening round. The gap between keeping momentum and losing it depends entirely on how fast you reset after something goes wrong.

Why It Works: When you're rolling, a single bogey can feel like disaster. That thought pattern spirals fast. A reset mechanism stops the bleeding before one bad shot turns into three or four.

Action Item: Pick your reset trigger now. Take a deep breath while thinking "next shot." Touch your hat or your pocket. Walk exactly ten steps before you consider what comes next. Drill this on the range after good shots and bad ones.

Sei Young Kim's victory proves that hot starts are chances to seize, not weights to carry. Stick to your routine. Focus on process instead of outcome. Play smart-aggressive golf. Reset between shots. Do those things and you can ride the heat straight to the clubhouse.