Veteran Yang Hee-young (34) lifted the trophy in the final match of the 2023 season of the LPGA Tour for the first time in a long time.
This is her fifth career win in four years and nine months since 2019, and her first win in the continental United States.
Heeyoung Yang shot 66, reducing 6 strokes with 1 eagle, 5 birdies, and 1 bogey in the 4th round of the CME Group Tour Championship held at the Gold Course (par 72) at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida on the 20th (Korean time). .
She rose to the top by three strokes over Allison Lee (USA) and Nasa Hataoka (Japan), who recorded a final total of 27 under par.
This is the first victory in 4 years and 9 months since winning the Honda LPGA Thailand in February 2019. 지울프-토토
Yang Hee-young, who debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2008 and is already in her 15th year, has achieved steady results, but coincidentally
she only won three times in Thailand and once in Korea, and did not taste a victory in the United States
but she shook off her disappointment by winning the final match of this season. The hefty prize money of $2 million is a bonus.
In the Tour Championship, Ko Jin-young has won twice and Kim Se-young once, and Yang Hee-young is the third Korean champion in history.
Yang Hee-young said in a post-game interview, “This year’s performance wasn’t bad, and we played several times in the championship group
but it was disappointing that we couldn’t win.
She smiled brightly, saying, “I thought I couldn’t do it because I started with bogey again today, but I am so happy that I won.”
The competition was fierce.
Yang Hee-young, who went into the final round tied for the lead with Hataoka, suffered a psychological burden after making a bogey on the third hole, but later collected two birdies and finished the first half to calm the mood.
What changed the atmosphere was the 13th hole (par 4).
Yang Hee-young recorded an eagle when her second shot
which she hit with 80 yards remaining, passed the pin slightly and was sucked into the hole cup with backspin.
After checking his cheek, Yang Hee-young raised his arms and was delighted.
With this shot, Yang Hee-young took the lead and got one step closer to winning.
Hataoka tied for the lead with a birdie on the 14th hole (par 5), but fell back to second place due to a bogey on the 16th hole (par 3).
Yang Hee-young clearly secured her victory at the 17th hole (par 5).
He aimed for a two-on shot and landed on the side of the green, but his approach shot went around the hole cup and added a tap-in birdie.
It was a shot that almost became his second eagle of the day.
Yang Hee-young, who reached the 18th hole (par 4) with a two-stroke lead, dropped her second shot 3 meters into the hole and leisurely walked onto the green, greeted by cheers from the gallery.
After Hataoka and Allison Lee, who played in the same group
holed out first, Yang Hee-young decorated the last hole with a pleasant birdie.
On this day, Yang Hee-young had a tee shot fairway hit rate of 100%, and her shot condition was so good that she missed only two approach shots out of 18. If several birdie putts had not been short, he could have added more birdies.
As the season ended, the protagonists of various titles were also decided.
World No. 1 Lilia Bu (USA), who won 4 wins including 2 majors this season, finished the tournament in 4th place (21 under par, 267 strokes) and won Player of the Year along with the prize money.
Kim Hyo-joo, who was aiming for first place in the average strokes category, finished the game with 14 under par (tied for 13th) and became second after Ataya Titikkun (Thailand), who recorded 20 under par (5th).
Korean players combined for 5 wins this season, with Ko Jin-young (2 wins), Yoo Hae-ran, Kim Hyo-joo, and Yang Hee-young decorating the finale.