Kim Su-ji wins Hana Financial Group Championship

Golf

Published: 02 Oct. 2022, 17:18

Kim Su-ji wins Hana Financial Group Championship

Kim Su-ji celebrates after winning the Hana Financial Group Championship on Sunday at Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon. [KLPGA]

Hong Jung-min looks on the fifth green during the final round of the Hana Financial Group Championship on Sunday at Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon. [KLPGA]

Kim Su-ji won the Hana Financial Group Championship on Sunday, carding a 14-under-par, 274, to win her second consecutive KLPGA title at Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon.

Kim Su-ji entered the Hana Financial Championship on Thursday just a week after winning the OKSavingsBank Se Ri Pak Invitational.

Kim Su-ji outplayed second-place finishers Hong Jung-min, who was looking for a wire-to-wire win and her second-ever KLPGA title, and rookie Lee Ye-won to win her fourth title.

Hong had entered the final round on the top of the leaderboard, at 15-under-par, 201, two strokes ahead of Kim Su-ji, who started the final round in second place.

With defending champion Song Ga-eun and the two tournament favorite LPGA golfers Minjee Lee of Australia and Kim Hyo-joo all failing to make the cut after the second round and KLPGA favorite Park Min-jee withdrawing due to cold symptoms on Sunday, the fight for the Hana Championship trophy and the biggest purse this season was down to Hong and Kim Su-ji on Sunday.

The Hana Championship this year has a record purse of 1.5 billion won ($1 million) with the winner taking 270 million won.

Kim Su-ji, who had a relatively quiet opening round on Thursday with just two birdies and one bogie, rallied on Friday and Saturday with two bogeyless rounds to reach 13-under-par. She seemed to have found her form over the first three rounds, starting off her final round with three birdies to overtake the lead.

Hong, on the other hand, had a steady first three rounds, with seven birdies and one bogey on Thursday, six birdies and one bogey on Friday and five birdies and one bogey on Saturday, but struggled to find a birdie on Sunday.

Hong parred the first three holes and by the third hole, Kim Su-ji had already made two birdies to tie for the lead. By the par-4 eighth, Kim Su-ji had a two-stroke lead over Hong.

Despite Kim Su-ji's 10th tee shot landing in a deep bunker that led her to bogey the hole, she was able to bounce back, birdying the next hole.

Hong found her first birdie of the day on the par-4 11th and then added another one on the second-to-last hole while Kim Su-ji slipped and carded a bogey, but it wasn't enough to change the result.

"I was playing well at the start today but I went through a rough spot toward the middle," said Kim Su-ji on Sunday. "But I tried to stay calm and I knew that my chance would come if I persevered. I think that mentality helped me a lot."

Rookie Lee Ye-won also showed off a strong performance on Sunday, eagling the last par-4 18th for a total score of four-under-par, 275, jumping up the leaderboard to join Hong in second place.

Sunday's result marks Lee Ye-won's second runner-up finish in a row.

Jaravee Boonchant of Thailand, a rookie on the Epson Tour, carded a 10-under-par, 278, to tie for sixth place.

LPGA golfers Minjee Lee of Australia and Kim Hyo-joo failed to make it to the weekend, with Lee carding a two-over-par, 146, and Kim Hyo-joo carding a four-over-par, 148, on Friday.

Both Lee and Kim Hyo-joo are going through a difficult patch in their seasons, having jetted into Korea after failing to make the cut in their last LPGA competitions.

Kim Hyo-joo currently has one win this season on the LPGA Tour, topping the leaderboard at the Lotte Championship in April.

This was Kim Hyo-joo's second week playing a KLPGA Tour event in Korea, after failing to defend her title at the OKSavingsBank Se Ri Pak Invitational last week. Despite suffering from muscle cramps throughout the event, she managed to finish at six-under-par, 210, to tie for 11th.

Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand plays her iron on the first hole during the final round of the Hana Financial Group Championship on Sunday at Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon. [KLPGA]

The only LPGA golfer that made it into the last two days was Patty Tavatanakit who was looking for her first title of the season.

Despite failing to go home with any silverware, Tavatanakit was able to cut a rough streak that has seen her miss the cut in seven of her last eight competitions before coming to Korea.

"I think there was less pressure for me this week because I won last week," said Kim Su-ji. "I didn't expect to win for two weeks straight. I still have many more important tournaments left this season and I will try my best there."

Kim Su-ji will try to continue that streak next week at the 22nd Hite Jinro Championship at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi, where she is also the defending champion.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]