27 October 2026. South Korean golfer Minsol Kim has crossed a striking financial milestone. Including her payout at the LPGA's BMW Ladies Championship in Haenam, her combined 2026 tournament winnings exceed an estimated 1.73 billion South Korean won, according to a calculation published by Edaily on Tuesday. The crucial distinction is that this is an unofficial cross-tour total, not her official KLPGA money-list figure.
What the BMW Ladies finish added
Kim tied for fourth at Pine Beach Golf Links on 25 October, finishing at 15 under par, 273 strokes, with rounds of 70, 66, 70 and 67. She shared the position with compatriot Hyo Joo Kim, two strokes behind winner Yuri Yoshida. The LPGA's official results list US$107,439 in prize money for Minsol Kim.
Edaily values that payout at approximately ₩142 million. Add this to Kim's Korean-tour earnings and the 2026 combined figure is roughly ₩1.732 billion. That number is useful for illustrating her earnings across events in South Korea, but the BMW Ladies prize is not counted toward the KLPGA's official money ranking because it is an LPGA Tour event.
The official record is already hers
As of KLPGA's 43rd ranking week of 2026, Kim leads its prize-money list on ₩1,590,079,428. Edaily reports that this total has already broken the previous KLPGA single-season money record set by Minjee Park in 2021, ₩1,521,374,313. Kim has compiled three wins and ten top-10 finishes in 23 regular-tour starts in 2026.
Her strong showing against an international LPGA field adds sporting significance to the prize-money milestone. She was the highest-placed regular KLPGA Tour competitor at the BMW Ladies Championship, while the two top Korean LPGA finishers, Haeran Ryu and Hye-Jin Choi, were tied second on 16 under.
Another milestone remains within reach
Kim's official career KLPGA money stands at ₩1,928,582,762, combining last year's ₩338,503,334 and this season's current total. She needs ₩71,417,238 more to reach ₩2 billion in official career earnings. That is a live target for the remaining events, not a milestone already achieved.
The broader story is the rapid progress of a young professional who is succeeding in her domestic tour while showing she can compete near the top of an LPGA leaderboard. It would be premature, however, to present a permanent LPGA move as announced.
Verification: Official KLPGA data, LPGA final leaderboard and payouts, and Edaily's report dated 27 October 2026.
Image: genuine illustrative archive photo of a female golfer, Vanessa Lo / Unsplash. It does not depict Minsol Kim or the 2026 event.
