Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Park Min-ji |
She beat Park You-na on the second playoff hole to win the Korea LPGA season finale and her second career title in 19 months.
She received 120 million won in prize money.
Park hit an even-par 72 on Sunday for an aggregate score of six-under par 210 to force overnight leader Park You-na into a playoff.
For Park You-na, without her missing two short putts, she could have won before Park Min-ji defeated her in the playoff. She struggled to make putts under pressure, hitting an over-par 73 to allow Park Min-ji to pull up even with her.
20-year-old Park Min-ji got off to a nervy start, bogeying the opening hole. But with a birdie on the fifth and sixth holes, she bounced back to share the three-way lead. Joint leaders, Park and Seo Yeun-jung, bogeyed the 7th.
Park Min-ji, however, coughed up two strokes on the 9th and 11th holes to drop down into second place, two shots behind the leader.
Still, standing on the 14th tee, Park was sharing the lead with Park You-na. Park You-na missed a short par putt on the 12th and mistakenly pulled another on the 13th.
Park became the lone leader by a stroke when Park You-na went on to bogey the 15th hole.
However, she failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker on the 170-meter par-3 16th to join the three-way lead. She then shared the two-way lead with Park You-na when Seo bogeyed the 17th hole.
After getting through the last two holes without incident, Park faced Park You-na in a sudden-death playoff.
Park You-na dropped down into a three-way tie for the lead when she failed to save par from the green-side bunker on the 7th. But she picked up a birdie on the 8th to return atop the leader board.
Making the turn, Park led the field by a stroke.
She birdied the 10th hole and led Park Min-ji by two strokes when the latter three-putted on the 11th green.
Park looked set to secure the title in seven years until she missed a short par putt on the 12th hole. The bogey made the spectators sit on the edge of their seats.
Park was part of the two-way lead with Park Min-ji when she had another bogey thrust on her on the 13th hole. Then, she dropped down into a two-way tie for second place with a bogey on the 15th hole.
She earned a share of the three-way lead when she dramatically saved par from the bunker on the par-3 16th.
After making pars on the last two holes, she met Park Min-ji for a playoff.
For Seo Yeun-jung, it was a roller coaster final round.
She jumped atop the leader board, birdying the first and second holes to supplant the overnight leader Park. After bogeying the 6th hole, she dropped down into a three-way tie for the lead. With bogeys on the 9th and 11th holes, Seo found her in third place, four shots adrift of the leader.
Seo held on to remain part of the three-way lead before she incurred a bogey on the 17th. The fatal bogey all but ended her chances of joining a three-way playoff.
Eventually, Seo finished tied for third place with Choi He-yong and Kim Cho-hui at a five-under 211, shy of first by a single stroke.
As for the sudden-death playoff on the par-5 18th, they drew with a par on the first playoff hole.
In the second playoff, Park Min-ji hit her third shot first near the hole, setting up a chance for birdie.
Park You-na also sent her ball near the hole, a touch longer than Park Min-ji.
Park You-na putted first. The ball hit a touch too hard just lipped out.
Park Min-ji calmly rolled in the clutch putt without the slightest tinge of tension. Hearing the ball rattling the bottom of the cup, she raised her hands.
Moments later, she burst into tears, and in a post-round interview, she was at a loss for words. When asked about her feelings, she just mentioned in tears she felt happy and sad at the same time.
Lee Jeong-eun finished tied in 24th place with eight others including Oh Ji-hyun. Lee won the opening LPGA Q-Series several weeks ago to earn full LPGA status for next season.
