'7th Major Victory' Lee Da-yeon "Did You See the Chip Shot Eagle?"... Choi Hye-jin in 2nd Place

Hanwha Classic Final Day 6-Under 'Perfect Play', Kim Ji-hyun and Hong Ji-won Tied 3rd, Park Min-ji Tied 39th

Lee Dayeon is taking a commemorative photo immediately after winning the Hanwha Classic. Photo by KLPGA

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] It is a complete victory for Lee Da-yeon (24, Mediheal).

On the 29th, at Jade Palace Golf Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province (par 72, 6,735 yards), Lee surged with a 6-under-par on the final day of the KLPGA Tour Hanwha Classic (total prize money 1.4 billion KRW), achieving a dominant 7-stroke win (19-under-par 269). This marks her 6th career win after 1 year and 8 months since the Hyosung Championship included in the 2020 season in December 2019, with a prize money of a whopping 252 million KRW. Her prize money ranking also soared from 14th to 5th (475 million KRW) in one leap.

Lee started with a 3-stroke lead and delivered a ‘perfect play’ with 1 eagle and 4 birdies. It is interesting that she did not make a single bogey in 45 holes starting from the 10th hole of the 2nd round. She opened the scoring with a birdie on the 5th hole (par 3), followed by a birdie on the 8th hole (par 4), and then an eagle with a 15-meter chip shot on the 10th hole (par 4). With a birdie on the 12th hole (par 5), she already had a 6-stroke lead, and added a 3-meter birdie on the final 18th hole (par 5).

It is noteworthy that Lee broke the tournament’s lowest winning score record set by Oh Ji-hyun (25, KB Financial Group) in 2017 by 6 strokes (13-under-par 275). Her iron shots stood out with a greens-in-regulation rate of 88.89% in both the 3rd and 4th rounds, showing pinpoint accuracy. She said, "After tasting defeat several times at the threshold of victory this year, today I had the mindset of ‘I can do it’ rather than ‘I might be able to’." She added her determination, "I want to become a better player going forward."

Choi Hye-jin (22, Lotte) faltered with a 2-under-par and remained in 2nd place (12-under-par 276). Kim Ji-hyun (30) and Hong Ji-won (21, Yojin Construction) tied for 3rd place (10-under-par 278), while Lim Hee-jung (21, Korea Land Trust), champion of the High1 Resort Women’s Open, stopped her ‘back-to-back win pursuit’ at a tie for 8th place (7-under-par 281). Six-time champion Park Min-ji (23, NH Investment & Securities) struggled throughout the four days with scores of 2-over-par, 1-under-par, 1-under-par, and 1-over-par, finishing tied for 39th place (1-over-par 289).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.