Kim Jaehee's First Victory... 'On Her 23rd Birthday'

Hana Financial Group Wins Comeback Victory at Singapore Women's Open
First Win at 91st Tournament, Earns 200 Million KRW Prize
Bang Sin-sil Runner-up, Amateur Oh Su-min Third Place

Kim Jae-hee received the best gift on her 23rd birthday.

Kim Jae-hee is teeing off at the 9th hole during the 4th round of the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women's Open.
[Photo by KLPGA]

On the 10th, at the final round of the 2024 KLPGA Tour season opener, the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women's Open (total prize money of 1.1 million Singapore dollars) held at the Tanah Merah Country Club Tampines Course (par 72, 6,548 yards) in Singapore, she shot a 6-under-par 66 to secure a one-stroke victory (17-under-par 271). Since her debut in 2021, she claimed her first title in her 91st regular tour event. The winner's prize money was 198,000 Singapore dollars (approximately 196 million Korean won).

Born on March 10, 2001, Kim Jae-hee enjoyed the joy of her first win on her birthday. Winning a KLPGA Tour event on one's birthday is the third case after Park Se-ri in 1997 and Kim Ye-jin in 2016. Additionally, she immediately rewarded SK Telecom, which started sponsoring her this year, believing in her potential.

Kim Jae-hee showed off her skills in the second half of last year. She finished as runner-up at the Daebo House D Open in October and placed 6th at the major Hite Jinro Championship, creating excitement for two consecutive weeks. In November last year, she led alone in the first half of the final round of the S-Oil Championship but unfortunately lost as the winner was decided based on the scores from rounds 1 to 3 due to heavy rain on the day.

Starting from a three-stroke tie for second place, Kim Jae-hee swept up six birdies without any bogeys. She dominated the top of the leaderboard with three consecutive birdies on holes 4 to 6 and a birdie on the 9th hole (par 4). Then, with back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14, she maintained the gap with her pursuers and held par on the remaining four holes to achieve a come-from-behind victory.

Bang Shin-sil shot 5-under to finish as runner-up (16-under-par 272). Oh Soo-min, who was aiming for her first amateur win in about seven years, shot 1-under-par 71 and slipped to third place (15-under-par 273). Patty Tavatanakit (Thailand), Noh Seung-hee, and Jeon Ye-seong tied for fourth place (13-under-par 275). Park Hyun-kyung and Jung Yoon-ji tied for eighth place (11-under-par 277), and Park Min-ji tied for 12th place (10-under-par 278).

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