Daniel Kang 'Wire to Wire'... Park Hee-young 20th Place

Drive On Championship: 1-Stroke Victory for 4th Career Win, Boutier 2nd, Minji Lee 3rd 'Strong Performance'

Daniel Kang (left) is cheering immediately after winning on the final day of the Drive On Championship. Toledo, Ohio, USA = Getty Images / Multibits Photo by Getty Images

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is a 'wire-to-wire' victory for Daniel Kang (USA), ranked 4th in the world.

On the 3rd (Korean time), at the Inverness Golf Club (par 72, 6,852 yards) in Toledo, Ohio, USA, Daniel Kang finished the final day of the LPGA Tour Drive On Championship (total prize money $1 million) by reducing 2 strokes to become the inaugural champion (7-under 209). This victory came after maintaining the top position on the leaderboard for three consecutive days in a tournament resumed after five months due to the 'COVID-19' situation. It is her 4th career win since her back-to-back victories at the Buick LPGA Shanghai in October last year, with a winner's prize of $150,000 (18 million KRW).

Daniel Kang started tied for the lead by 2 strokes and recorded 3 birdies and 1 bogey. She smoothly progressed with 'stepping stone birdies' on holes 2 and 4, followed by a birdie on the 11th hole (par 4). Although she was chased to within 1 stroke by C?line Boutier (France) after a bogey on the 13th hole (par 5), she defended the remaining holes well and enjoyed the joy of her first win of the season. Daniel Kang debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2012 and won her first career victory at the 2017 major KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

Adding one win each year for the past four years, she has established herself as a representative golfer of the United States. She exclaimed, "I thought I was leading with three holes to go," and added, "The course was difficult, so I was patient and achieved a good result." Boutier missed a short 1-meter birdie putt on the final 18th hole (par 4), failing to push the match into a playoff. She finished second (6-under 210), her best result of the season. Minjee Lee (Australia) reduced 2 strokes to rise to third place (4-under 212).

Yui Kawamoto (Japan) performed well in 4th place (3-under 213), while Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England), who was co-leader the previous day, lost 3 strokes and slipped to 5th place (2-under 214). For Korea, Park Hee-young (33, Isu Group) made 4 bogeys without any birdies. She missed the green 7 times and recorded 32 putts. She tied for 20th place (3-over 219). Shin Ji-eun (28, Hanwha Q Cells) and Kwak Min-seo (30) tied for 28th place (4-over 220), and Jeon In-ji (26, KB Financial Group) tied for 67th place (9-over 225).