Lee Jeong-eun 6 "Entering Top 10~"... Maguire "First Winner from Ireland"

2022 Season Round 3 LPGA Drive On Championship Final Day Tied 9th, Thompson 2nd, Koda and Choi Hye-jin Tied 15th

Lee Jeong-eun 6 is smiling at the 9th hole on the final day of the LPGA Drive On Championship. Fort Myers (USA) = Getty Images / Photo by Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] ‘Hot Six’ Lee Jeong-eun6 (26, Daebang Construction) secured a ‘Top 10’ finish.

On the 6th (Korean time), at the final 3rd round of the LPGA Drive On Championship (total prize money $1.5 million), the 3rd event of the 2022 LPGA Tour season held at Crown Colony Golf Club in Fort Myers, Florida, USA (par 72, 6,526 yards), she shot 4-under par to finish tied for 9th place (12-under par 204). This marks her first ‘Top 10’ finish in four tournaments since tying for 4th at the Cognizant Founders Cup last October.

Starting tied for 6th place, 5 strokes behind the leader, Lee Jeong-eun6 recorded 7 birdies and 3 bogeys. After a bogey on the 1st hole (par 4), she surged with consecutive birdies on the 2nd and 3rd holes and a streak of three birdies from the 6th to 8th holes. However, in the back nine, she exchanged 2 birdies for 2 bogeys and could not reduce her score further. Her 100% fairway hit rate and 26 putts stood out. Although she finished tied for 57th at last week’s Gainbridge LPGA, she demonstrated consistency by shooting scores in the 60s over all three days in this tournament.

Leona Maguire hits a tee shot on the 1st hole on the final day of the LPGA Drive On Championship. Fort Myers, USA = Getty Images / Multivitz
Photo by Multivitz

Leona Maguire (Ireland) surged with a 5-under par round to claim a commanding 3-stroke victory (18-under par 198). Making her debut in 2020, she became the first-ever winner from Ireland after 36 tournaments. The winner’s prize money was $225,000 (27 million KRW). Lexi Thompson (USA) shot 7-under par to jump to 2nd place (15-under par 201). ‘Number 2’ Nelly Korda (USA) surged up the leaderboard with an 8-under par round to tie for 15th place (10-under par 206).

From Korea, rookie Choi Hye-jin (23, Lotte) made a strong showing by shooting 6-under par to tie for 15th place. Another newcomer, Hong Ye-eun (20, CJ O Shopping), finished 2-under par, dropping to a tie for 20th place (9-under par 207). Jeon In-ji (28) tied for 26th place (8-under par 208), while Park In-bi (34) and Yang Hee-young (33), both from KB Financial Group and Woori Financial Group respectively, tied for 30th place (7-under par 209). ‘Top qualifier’ Anna Lin (26, Mediheal) finished tied for 37th place (6-under par 210).

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