‘Strong Heart’ Hong Ji-won Wins First Ever Victory... "I Watched Kim Yuna's Video Again"

Hong Ji-won Wins by 4 Shots at Major Hanwha Classic
First Over-Par Champion in KLPGA Tour in 7 Years
Park Min-ji 2nd... Kim Su-ji and Jung Yoon-ji, Ha Min-song Tied for 3rd

Hong Ji-won is making an iron shot on the 3rd hole of the final 4th round of the Hanwha Classic. Photo by KLPGA

[Chuncheon (Gangwon Province) = Reporter Lee Seohee] Hong Ji-won (22) claimed the top spot at the Hanwha Classic, the third major tournament of the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour season (total prize money 1.4 billion KRW, winner's prize 252 million KRW). This marks her first career victory since debuting on the KLPGA Tour in 2021 and her first 'over-par champion' in seven years.

On the 28th, Hong Ji-won shot an even-par 72 in the final 4th round at Jade Palace Golf Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province (par 72, 6,777 yards), exchanging three birdies for three bogeys. She won with a final total of 1-over-par 289. She comfortably edged out Park Min-ji (24), who finished second at 5-over-par 293, by four strokes. Kim Su-ji (26), Jung Yoon-ji (22), and Ha Min-song (26) tied for third place at 7-over-par 295.

The battle for second place was more intense than for first. Hong Ji-won never relinquished the lead and maintained a steady game throughout. She reduced her score to 1-under-par at the 12th hole (par 5), but unfortunately finished at 1-over-par after consecutive bogeys at the 16th (par 4) and 17th holes (par 4) in the latter part of the round.

Hong Ji-won has shown a particularly strong performance at the Hanwha Classic. After achieving her best result last year with a third-place finish, she secured her first career win at the same tournament this year. Although she ranked 82nd in prize money with 57 million KRW over 19 tournaments this season, this victory propelled her up 62 places to 20th in the rankings with 309.32 million KRW.

Due to the challenging course, even top-tier players struggled in this tournament, making Hong Ji-won's steady play a key advantage. She ranks 20th in fairway hit rate (76%) and 7th in greens in regulation (78%), demonstrating precise shots. Thanks to this accuracy, she avoided major mistakes and completed the tournament successfully.

In a post-win interview, Hong Ji-won said, "The course was difficult, so I was actually less nervous than last year. Last year, even a small mistake would cause a big drop in rankings, but today, I thought that even if I made bogeys, everyone would find it tough, so it wouldn't have a big impact, and I focused on my play."

She added, "I always tend to play steadily. I think this strength matched well with the difficult course. I admire figure skater Kim Yuna's calmness. This morning, I watched Kim Yuna's Vancouver Olympic performance video to control my mindset," she said.

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