By Alex Myers
Lexi Thompson will resume competing against the best women golfers in the world when the LPGA restarts next week. In the meantime, she nearly took down a male mini-tour legend during a final tuneup.

On Tuesday, the LPGA star came up one shot short of catching Sunny Kim at a Minor League Golf Tour event. Thompson and Kim were tied before Kim birdied the final hole of the two-day tournament to finish at seven-under.

Thompson fired a final-round 66 to finish in solo second. The 11-time LPGA winner was four shots clear of Luke Graboyes and Matt Holuta in third place. Former PGA Tour pro and Korn Ferry Tour winner Jon Curran finished T-5, while six-time European Tour winner Thomas Levet finished T-7.

Kim, who was born in South Korea and grew up in Queens, N.Y., has now won an absurd 71 Minor League Golf Tour titles since turning pro in 2007. That includes a nine-shot final-round comeback earlier this year when he shot the tour’s first-ever 59.

Kim joined the Minor League Golf Tour in 2006 before turning professional the following year. With his $1,500 winner’s check on Tuesday, he now has more than $286,000 in career earnings, according to the tour’s site.

Meanwhile, Thompson took home $1,000 for her runner-up finish. She is expected to play in next week’s Marathon LPGA Classic.

The post Lexi Thompson nearly takes down mini-tour legend in men’s event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Sunny Kim has been a dominant force on the Minor League Golf Tour since joining in October of 2006, winning an astonishing 67 times in that span. But the former Korn Ferry Tour player picked up his most incredible victory to date on Tuesday.

RELATED: Mini-tour player shoots final-round 59, loses in playoff

Beginning the second and final round nine shots behind Gavin Hall, Kim birdied eight of his first 15 holes at the Fox Club in Palm City, Fla. And then he really got cooking. The Korean-born golfer who grew up in Queens, N.Y., holed a 9-iron from 165 yards for eagle on the par-4 16th, then added another eagle at No. 18 to shoot 59 on the par-71 course.

??ANOTHER 59??

Minor League Golf Tour Legend Sunny Kim was 9 back to start today. All he did was shoot 59, including a eagle on 440 yd par 4 16th and eagle on the par 5 last. If it holds up it will be his SIXTY-SEVENTH (67!!) Minor League win. pic.twitter.com/I2wD0TEx7J

— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) March 24, 2020

And for fans looking for highlights, here’s Sunny sinking the final putt and getting elbow bumps from his playing partners:

Making the occasion even sweeter was that it happened to be Sunny’s 31st birthday. Hopefully he didn’t go too crazy with that winning check for $2,100.

Surprisingly, Kim is the first player to break 60 on the Minor League Golf Tour, which is in its 17th season. Not surprisingly, he had one of the tour’s previous two rounds of 60s, with the other belonging to Chase Koepka, the younger brother of four-time major champ Brooks Koepka. Chase finished T-10 in this event.

The Minor League Golf Tour is one of several mini-tours around the country that has continued to host events while major sports leagues are on break. Of note, a first-ever 59 on the Outlaw Tour was shot, and eight-time LPGA winner Anna Nordqvist won on the Cactus Tour.

According to the MLGT’s website, the next tournament starts Thursday at PGA National and will be the 37th(!) of the year. And you thought the PGA Tour had a jam-packed schedule.

The post Mini-tour legend wins from nine shots back thanks to birthday 59—and there’s even video to prove it appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.