'Desert Fox' Lim Hee-jeong's 6-Stroke Victory "I Am the Major Queen"... Park Min-ji in 3rd Place

KLPGA Tour Major Korea Women's Open Final Day Adds 3 Under Par to Set '72-Hole Lowest Score' Record, Kwon Seoyeon 2nd Place

Im Hee-jung is teeing off on the 1st hole on the final day of the Korean Women's Open.

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] It is a decisive victory for ‘Desert Fox’ Lim Hee-jeong (22, Korea Land & Trust).

On the 19th, at the Rainbow Hills Golf Club in Eumseong, Chungbuk (par 72, 6,763 yards), Lim added 3-under par on the final day of the KLPGA Tour major, the Korea Women's Open (total prize money 1.2 billion KRW), achieving a commanding 6-stroke victory (19-under par 269). She broke the 72-hole lowest score record previously held by Oh Ji-hyun (26) in 2018 and Park Min-ji (24, NH Investment & Securities) last year, who scored 17-under par 271. This marks her 5th career win, 10 months after the High1 Resort Ladies Open last August, with a winner's prize of 300 million KRW.

Lim Hee-jeong is a leading star who confidently ranked 2nd in prize money (991.66 million KRW) last year, with 15 top-10 finishes including one win in 28 events. Despite this, she had relatively few wins, with three runner-up and third-place finishes each. This year, she is not yet in full form due to a traffic accident in April. Her 3rd place at the Doosan Match Play in May was surprising. However, in this tournament, she started her winning march from the first day with 4-under par in the first round and 6-under par in both the second and third rounds.

On the final day, she recorded 4 birdies and 1 bogey. She had a strong start with consecutive birdies on holes 1 and 2, and added birdies on the 7th hole (par 5) and 11th hole (par 3) to build momentum. The bogey on the 15th hole (par 4) with a ‘3-on 2-putt’ was irrelevant to her victory. Rookie Kwon Seo-yeon (21, Woori Financial Group) posted 4-under par to rise to 2nd place (13-under par 275), which is notable. This is her second runner-up finish following the Nexen Saintnine Masters in April.

Park Min-ji is executing an iron shot on the 9th hole during the final day of the Korea Women's Open.

Defending champion Park Min-ji faltered with 2-under par, finishing 3rd (12-under par 276). She lost 3 strokes on the last two holes with a double bogey on the 17th hole (par 3) and a bogey on the 18th hole (par 4), surrendering even the 2nd place. Last month, she achieved back-to-back wins at the NH Investment & Securities Ladies and the Celltrion Queens Masters on the 12th, and was challenging to defend three titles in a single KLPGA season for the first time in 40 years. ‘Match Queen’ Hong Jeong-min (20, CJ OnStyle) finished tied for 15th (7-under par 281).

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