Park Ji-young gets first win of season at S-Oil Championship

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Park Ji-young gets first win of season at S-Oil Championship

Published: 07 Nov. 2021, 18:06

Park Ji-young celebrates winning the trophy after the final round of the 15th S-Oil Championship at Elysian Jeju Country Club in Jeju on Sunday. [KLPGA]

Park Ji-young won her first title of the season at the second-to-last tournament, the 15th S-Oil Championship at Elysian Jeju Country Club in Jeju on Sunday, marking the second time she has won the title after taking her first-ever trophy at the 10th S-Oil Championship in 2016.

Park carded a four-under-par, 68, on the first day, a three-under-par, 69, on the second day and four-under-par, 68, on the final round to a total of 11-under-par, 205. In 2016, Park won the title with a 17-under-par, 199.

Park Ji-young tees off on the last hole of the final round at the15th S-Oil Championship at Elysian Jeju Country Club in Jeju on Sunday. [KLPGA]

The S-Oil Championship was a three-day, 54-hole event but the trophy was only decided on the last few holes on Sunday, after a breath-taking race between Park, Lee So-mi and Kim Su-ji.

Lee went into the final round on top with 10-under-par, 134, and had the solo lead until the 14th hole, but her form started to waver on the par-4 15th and she bogied the next three holes. Lee fell down to tie for second alongside Kim, who had birdied the par-4 17th. Kim maintained that second position till the end, while Lee parred the last hole and fell down to tie for third.

Lee has two titles this season, at the Lotte Rent a Car Ladies Open in April and the Dayouwinia MBN Ladies Open in August. She has six top-10 finishes this season.

Lee So-mi tees off on the final round of the 15th S-Oil Championship at Elysian Jeju Country Club in Jeju on Sunday. [KLPGA]

Lim Hee-jeong, who had said that her goal is to finish in the top three this weekend, achieved exactly that, finishing tied for third on Sunday. Lim started the final round as runner-up after carding four birdies and one bogey on the first day and six birdies only on the second day. Her final round was quieter, carding one bogey and a single birdie. Despite having just one win, Lim has now finished in the top-10 at the last six tournaments, two of them being runner-up finishes.

Lim Hee-jeong plays her iron on the final round of the 15th S-Oil Championship at Elysian Jeju Country Club in Jeju on Sunday. [KLPGA]

Park and most other golfers will continue their trophy hunt next week at the last KLPGA event of the season, while 35-year-old Hong Ran announced her official retirement from the KLPGA Tour marking the S-Oil Championship as the last outing of a 17-year-long professional career on the KLPGA tour.

Hong Ran plays her short iron on the first round of the 15th S-Oil Championship at Elysian Jeju Country Club in Jeju on Friday. [KLPGA]

Hong carded a one-over-par, 217 on Sunday and finished tied for 52nd. Hong holds the record for the most number of matches and rounds played, and making the most cuts. Hong has competed in a total of 356 events, has played a total of 1,043 rounds and made the cut 287 times.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [[email protected]]