(Photo : KGA)
The 37th DB Group Korea Women's Open (prize money of KRW 1.2 billion), which is not only the national title for women's professional golf in South Korea but also part of the Ladies Asian Tour (LAT) series, saw third-year tour player Hong Ji-won (23) emerge victorious after a double-overtime playoff. Hong, who won her first professional title at last year's major, the Hanwha Classic, shot a 12-under-par (276) in the final round of the tournament to tie with Ma Dasom and Min-byul Kim only to claim victory with a dramatic birdie to conclude the tournament on June 18 at Rainbow Hills Country Club (South and East Courses / Par 72) in Eumseong, Chungcheongbuk-do. With this victory, Hong Ji-won has now won two major titles and earned a new reputation as the "major killer”.
Organized and sanctioned by the Korea Golf Association (Chairman Hyung-mo Kang), the DB Group 37th Korea Women's Open is also the inaugural event of the LAT Series, created by the Asia Golf Leaders Forum (henceforth AGLF, http://www.asiagolfleaderforum.org) in 2021.
After tying with a par on the first overtime hole (18th, par 4), Hong Ji-won dropped her tee shot on the second overtime hole into the rough. However, her precise second shot found the pin only one meter out to end the tie. Ma Dasom, who had held the lead throughout the tournament, saw her tee shot on the second playoff hole fly into the penalty area, while Kim Minbyul, who sent her tee shot the furthest down the fairway, had a long second shot to ultimately give Hong the win. For her second major title in 10 months, Hong has earned 300 million won and a three-year seeding on the KLPGA Tour. With a career earnings total of 969.66 million won, Hong Ji-won has now earned 600 million won from her major victories alone.
Despite having a short driving distance (115th in rankings, 224.01 yards), Hong Ji-won is ranked first in fairway hit percentage (88%). She was thrilled with her win, saying, "I didn't hit it farther than the other players, but I used my own strengths to my advantage. It's a great honor to win a national title organized by the Korea Golf Association especially having turned pro without competing for Korea. Now, it is even more meaningful to have won such a prestigious tournament organized by the KGA.”
Rookie Kim Min-byul and second-year tour player Ma Dasom finished for both their careers’-best tie for second place, while Park Min-ji failed to lower her down her final-round score and carded an even-par 72 to finish in a tie for fourth place (9-under, 279) with national teammate Kim Min-sol, the top-ranked amateur.
The 2023 LAT Series kicks off with the DB Group 37th Korea Women's Open, followed by the Hana Financial Group Championship in October, the Simone's Asia Pacific Cup and the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women's Open in December.
In particular, the upcoming 2023 Simone Asia Pacific Cup, will be played on a national team basis. It will feature the winner of the Korea Women's Open, which has been played on the LAT Series for the past three years, as well as two national players who are preparing for the Southeast Asian training camp.
The LAT Series is an Asian women's (professional) golf tournament series created by a coalition of golf sanctioning bodies in the Asia Pacific. With the support of the AGLF, these official golf organizations will create their own tournaments and national titles to be included in the LAT Series platform. The AGLF and the LAT Series was created with the goal of increasing the number of tournaments that Asian women golfers can participate in and develop them into world-class players.
(AGLF)
