Yang Hee-young's 5th Career Win Hunt... 'Did You See the Shot Eagle?' (Comprehensive)

Season Finale Tour Championship FR 6 Under Par
First Win in 4 Years 9 Months... 2.6 Billion Won Prize Money 'Jackpot'
Runner-up Money King and Player of the Year, Yu Hae-ran Rookie of the Year

Yang Hee-young secured her fifth career victory at the final tournament of the year.

On the 19th (local time), she shot a 6-under-par 66 in the 4th round of the LPGA Tour CME Group Tour Championship (total prize money $7 million) held at Tiburon Golf Club Gold Course (par 72, 6,556 yards) in Naples, Florida, USA, including a shot eagle on the 13th hole (par 4), finishing with a 3-stroke victory (27-under-par 261). This marks her fifth career win, her first since the Honda LPGA Thailand in February 2019, 4 years and 9 months ago, with a winner's prize of $2 million (approximately 2.6 billion KRW). Yang Hee-young recorded her first win on the US mainland. South Korea achieved a total of five wins in the 2023 season.

Yang Hee-young is smiling brightly while holding a trophy and a board displaying the prize money right after winning the CME Group Tour Championship. [Naples, USA=Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

Yang Hee-young started as a co-leader by one stroke and collected one eagle and five birdies (with one bogey). Although she started shakily with a bogey on the 3rd hole (par 4), she changed the momentum with consecutive birdies on the 7th and 8th holes and another birdie on the 10th hole (par 4). On the 13th hole, her second shot slightly passed the pin but spun back and was sucked into the hole. After Hataoka Nasa (Japan) made a bogey due to a putting mistake on the 16th hole (par 3), Yang took the lead and secured the victory with consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. She powered her game with a 100% fairway hit rate.

Born in 1989, Yang Hee-young is a veteran who debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2008. Of her five career wins, three were at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Before this tournament, her arm condition was not good. She suffered from tennis elbow due to rock climbing, a hobby she started last year. It was serious enough to make her consider retirement. Yang took painkillers and competed in the final event, becoming the third Korean player to win this tournament after Kim Sei-young (2019) and Ko Jin-young (2020?2021). Yang said, "I am so happy to win my first tournament held in the US," and cheered, "I relaxed after making the shot eagle."

Hataoka and Allison Lee (USA) tied for 2nd place (24-under-par 264). Lilia Vu (USA) surged with a 7-under-par round to finish 4th (21-under-par 267). Having accumulated four wins this year, she swept individual titles including the money list, Player of the Year, CME Globe Race, and the Annika Major Award. Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) received awards for lowest scoring average and Leaders 'Top 10'. Yoo Hae-ran won the Rookie of the Year award.

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