Cheering in Overtime at Mitsubishi Electric Ladies Tournament
Prize Money 160 Million Won, Korea's Third Win This Year
Lee Hana delivered a victory report from Japan.
On the 29th, at the Musashigaoka Golf Club in Saitama Prefecture, Japan (par 72, 6,650 yards), during the final 3rd round of the Hisako Higuchi Mitsubishi Electric Ladies Golf Tournament (total prize money 100 million yen) on the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (JLPGA) Tour, she shot a 5-under-par 67 to tie with Miyu Yamashita and Yuka Nishii (both from Japan) at 9-under-par 270. Then, on the first hole of the playoff at the 18th hole (par 5), she made a ‘winning birdie’.
Lee Hana is putting in the final 3rd round of the Hisako Higuchi Mitsubishi Electric Ladies Golf Tournament. [Photo by JLPGA Tour]
Lee Hana won her first-ever regular tour title and received a winner’s prize of 18 million yen (approximately 160 million KRW). Born in 2001, she has three wins on the Japanese second-tier tour in 2020 and 2021. This year, Korean players have won three times on the JLPGA Tour, with Shin Ji-ae winning the Daikin Orchid Ladies Tournament in March and the Earth Mondahmin Cup in July. Lee Hana’s victory at the 34th event of the season marked the third win for Korean players.
Starting from a tie for 8th place, five strokes behind, Lee Hana swept up five birdies without any bogeys. After birdies on holes 1, 7, 9, and 15 to contend for the title, she sank a birdie by placing her third shot from the bunker on the final 18th hole within 20 cm of the hole, forcing the playoff. Japan’s Nikkan Sports introduced her as “a player who learned golf from Masashi Ozaki (Japan) and began her professional career on the Japanese second-tier tour.” Ozaki is a legendary Japanese male golfer famous by the nickname ‘Jumbo.’ He holds the record for the most wins in the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) with a total of 94 victories.
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