Park Ji-young "6-stroke Victory"... "Have You Seen a Wire-to-Wire Win?"

Cheering for '4th Career Win' at Mediheal·Hankook Ilbo Championship, Lee Chae-eun 2nd, Lee Da-yeon 3rd, Park Hyun-kyung 5th

Park Ji-young is teeing off at the 4th hole on the final day of the Mediheal·Hankook Ilbo Championship. Photo by KLPGA

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Park Ji-young (26, Korea Land Trust) achieved a 'wire-to-wire' victory.

On the 17th, at Ferrum Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province (par 72, 6,628 yards), she added 3 under par on the final day of the 2022 KLPGA Tour 2nd event, the Mediheal·Hankook Ilbo Championship (total prize money 1 billion KRW), securing a dominant 6-stroke victory (18 under par 270). She maintained the top spot on the leaderboard for all four days, delivering a perfect win. This is her 4th KLPGA Tour victory, coming five months after the S-OIL Championship last November, with a winner's prize of 180 million KRW.

Starting with a 4-stroke lead, Park Ji-young recorded 4 birdies and 1 bogey. Although she started shakily with a bogey on the 4th hole (par 4), she changed the momentum with a birdie on the 8th hole (par 3), and added three more birdies on the back nine at the 13th, 17th (both par 4), and 18th hole (par 5), distancing herself from her competitors. Park Ji-young was the player who won the Rookie of the Year title in 2015 without a single victory. She overcame the hardship of being the 'winless rookie of the year' by winning the S-OIL Championship in June 2016.

In December 2018, she embarked on a 'Vietnam expedition' and won the Hyosung Championship, which was included in the 2019 season, and then won again at last year's S-OIL Championship. This year, her strengths include a long drive averaging 242.09 yards and a 'pinpoint iron shot' with a 75% greens in regulation rate. Lee Chae-eun 2 (23, Angang Construction) finished 2nd (12 under par 276), Lee Da-yeon (25, Mediheal) 3rd (10 under par 278), and Park Hyun-kyung (22, Korea Land Trust) took 5th place (8 under par 280).