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SOUTH BEND — Kim Kaufman led wire-to-wire to capture the Four Winds Invitational at Blackthorn Golf Club on Sunday.

Kaufman, who earned her third Symetra Tour title, shot 67, 69 and 69 to finish one stroke ahead of Robyn Choi. Kaufman finished at 11-under par. Choi shot 69, 70 and 67 to finish 10-under par.

Bailey Tardy was two strokes farther back to finish third.

“It felt awesome, it’s been five or six years since my last win, so kind of feels like my first one all over again,” Kaufman said. “It was tough out there today and competition gets better and better, so we were just super happy to stick to our game plan and have it work out useful. I feel like finally I did what I’ve been trying to do. I just kept the shot that I had in front of me as my only focus and not that at times you aren’t thinking other things, but it paid off today.”

Besides winning the Four Winds title, Kaufman also captured an additional $10,000 to claiming the seventh Potawatomi Cup. Four Winds was the second and final stop for the cup. She finished tied for fourth at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship to put herself in position to claim the title money at Blackthorn.

“The Potawatomi Cup was really the cherry on top of a great week,” said Kaufman. “This tribe does so much for our tour and to see them pitch in for a bonus pool is really incredible. I hope I make them proud as this year’s winner.”

The victory also vaulted Kaufman (Clark, South Dakota) to the top of the Volvik Race for the Card standings. She leads the standings with $37,232 in earnings through five weeks on the tour.

 

Kaufman notes

• Medalist for Texas Tech University at the 2012 Landfall Tradition
• 2013 Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) second team All-American
• Top five in the Golfweek/Sagarin Fall 2012 collegiate rankings to first earn Symetra Tour membership as a 2013 rookie
• Two-time Symetra Tour champion at the 2013 Island Resort Championship and 2014 Volvik Championship
• Finished T23 at the 2013 LPGA final qualifying tournament to first earn LPGA Tour membership as a 2014 rookie
• Total of 149 career starts on the LPGA Tour through the 2019 season with 12 top-10 results and a career-best of T2 at 2015 Blue Bay LPGA
• Made eight cuts across 21 starts on the LPGA Tour in 2019 with a season-best T6 at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational