Kim Sei-young and An Na-rin reach LPGA Match Play semifinals

Golf

Published: 08 Apr. 2024, 13:59

Kim Sei-young and An Na-rin reach LPGA Match Play semifinals

Korea's Kim Sei-young tees off on the third hole in her semifinal match against Leona Maguire of Ireland on day four of the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards at Shadow Creek Golf Course on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korea’s Kim Sei-young and An Na-rin reached the semifinals of the five-day T-Mobile Match Play tournament, which wrapped up Sunday at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas.

Kim fell to Leona Maguire of Ireland in the semifinals on Saturday, Maguire winning the round 3 and 2 — finishing three strokes ahead with two holes to go.

An also exited Saturday after losing 4 and 3 to the United States’ Nelly Korda, who went on to defeat Maguire 4 and 2 in the championship round on Sunday.

Korea's An Na-rin tees off on the eighth hole in her semifinal match against Nelly Korda of the United States on day four of the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards at Shadow Creek Golf Course on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. [AFP/YONHAP]

It was Korda’s fourth-straight win in four starts. She won the previous weekend’s Arizona Championship and before that, the Dio Implant LA Open, as well as the Drive On Championship in January — having missed the LPGA Tour’s Asian swing.

Both Kim and An ended the tournament tied third with a payout of $120,673 — the biggest prize either has won so far in 2024.

Kim and An were the only Korean golfers to make the quarterfinals. Korea’s Ryu Hae-ran — last season’s LPGA Rookie of the Year — Choi Hye-jin, Chun In-gee, Jeon Ji-won, Ji Eun-hee, Kim Hyo-joo, Lee Mi-hyang, Jenny Shin and Lee Jeong-eun6 made the first round of cuts for the top 65 and ties but missed out on a spot in the quarterfinals.

This year’s Match Play tournament saw the top eight after three rounds of stroke play advancing to the match-play quarterfinals. In match-play, players compete head-to-head in groups, with points at each hole awarded to the player who uses the fewest strokes.

Korea’s Ji, who finished tied for 47th, was the winner of the 2022 tournament, then called the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play, her most recent Tour victory.

A Korean golfer has yet to win a tournament this season, which began in January.

The Tour next heads to its first Major of the season, The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, which is set to run from April 18 to 21.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]