There was no way that Karrie Webb was going to deny Grace Kim the scholarship that bears her name, despite having won it three times previously.

Part of the delirious throng that charged onto the 18th green at Hazeltine National when Hannah Green claimed the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Kim had twice received the money-can’t-buy experience shadowing Australia’s greatest major champion.

The travel restrictions that prevented so much international travel denied Kim the opportunity to go again in 2020 so when she received the scholarship for a fourth time in 2021, Webb went above and beyond.

It would be a road trip, just a seven-time major winner and a 20-year-old amateur from Sydney with the world at her feet, but only an elementary understanding of how to navigate it.

They would play some of the greatest golf courses on the planet, share dinners and stories and build on a bond that has now deepened as two of just 17 Australians to ever win a golf major.

Kim shocked the world by the manner in which she won Sunday’s Amundi Evian Championship in France but, in Webb’s eyes, merely fulfilled the promise she had displayed at every level along the way.

“In some respects, I’ve wanted to see the success quicker for her because I think she’s capable of it,” said Webb shortly after watching the final round chaos from her home in Florida.

“Some people take a long time to win a major and some people do it as their first win. You look at Greeny (Hannah Green); Greeny was 22 when she won a Women’s PGA.

“It was just her time and what I’m excited for Gracie is I think this will take the lid off now.

“She’s got a place to play for five years, financially, this will give her some breathing room just to go and play.

“I’m excited to see what she can do now with a bit of freedom.”

‘Memories that money can’t buy’

In the immediate aftermath of a life-changing victory that has been described as one of the wildest finishes major championship golf has ever seen, Kim was reminded of that road trip with a legend four years earlier.

While the names of the courses were somewhat cloudy – “I don’t know golf courses very well,

but we played Pine Needles… sorry, Pine Valley!” – Kim knew in the moment that she was being afforded insight given to very few.

“It was just an incredible week with her. We shared a hotel room, so, yeah, memories that

money can’t buy.”

Kim’s long-time coach Khan Pullen received a phone call from one of those hotel rooms as the pair clocked up the kilometres and has no doubt that Webb’s influence has provided a key piece to the puzzle.

“It’s just amazing what Karrie has done,” said Pullen, High Performance Manager at Golf NSW.

“That opportunity to spend time with her and ask questions and know that you’ve got someone like Karrie in your corner – somebody that’s really taking an interest in you and is offering that level of support – for somebody that young in their career… To have a Hall-of-Famer, somebody of that esteem to take time out and spend it with you and just the experiences that Karrie has had, to be able to share those with Grace is priceless.”

“The member who took us to Pine Valley was texting me this morning, so Grace has got fans everywhere,” Webb adds of her third scholarship recipient to win a major championship.

“And then we went and played Winged Foot and Westchester Country Club, which is where she was playing the US Am.

“I haven’t done that with any of the other kids. It was just her and I. That was really special.”

‘It’s not the easiest thing in the world to do’

Whether it’s a dream or simply part of the plan, Grace Kim’s trajectory always ended with major championship glory.

A product of Avondale Golf Club on Sydney’s north shore, she won the Australian Girls Junior Amateur in 2017, the NSW Women’s Amateur in both 2020 and 2021 and then the Australian Women’s Amateur in 2021.

There was a gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, won in her only season on the secondary Epson Tour in 2022 and then, just three starts after joining as a full member in 2023, was a winner on the LPGA Tour.

Winning is all she has ever known, yet there had only been 16 Australians before her to ever do so at the sport’s pinnacle.

“There’s only been 17 people that have done it because it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do,” reasoned Pullen.

“She’s been a consistent winner at every level that she’s played at, from junior golf to amateur golf to elite amateur golf right up to winning very early on as a pro.

“It was kind of always this linear upward progression for her and sometimes that comes with expectation.”

That expectation has weighed heavily at times the past 18 months.

There have been 36 and 54-hole leads squandered, Kim gaining another legion of fans for the ‘grace’ she displayed in losing last year’s Meijer LPGA Classic despite starting the final round with a five-stroke lead.

Kim was brought to tears after shooting 80 in the second round on debut at Evian two years ago and when she made two bogeys in her opening four holes in the final round on Sunday, heartbreak was once again extending its hand.

But perhaps some of that Webb tenacity had rubbed off as she surged with a hole-out bunker shot for eagle on seven, dealt with a horrible break on her way to double bogey on 12 - “To be honest, I thought that was it at that particular point in time,” said Pullen – and then kept the leaders just within reach with birdies at 15 and 16.

The two-putt from the adjoining French village on 17 may be forgotten in time but was just as influential as the 4-hybrid she struck to two feet to set up eagle on the 72nd hole, the pitch-in across the creek in the playoff and, ultimately, the 10-foot putt that forever makes her a major champion.

“When Gracie two-putted on 17, I was like, Well, she’s still got a chance. She could eagle the last,” Webb reflected, herself a winner at Evian seven years before it was bestowed major championship status in 2013.

“Hitting it to tap-in was just unbelievable.

“Gracie’s been on the 18th green spraying champagne on all the other Aussies, Greeny and Minjee. I’m just glad she finally got her turn to have champagne sprayed on her.”