Celltrion Queens Masters 1R 8-Under Par Excitement
First Ever 4 Consecutive Wins Record Set Upon Victory
"Finding Peace of Mind Through Reading"
Park Min-ji unleashed a powerful performance from the very first day of her attempt at a '4 consecutive wins' streak.
Park Min-ji is smiling brightly during an interview after completing the first round of the Celltrion Queens Masters. [Photo by KLPGA]
On the 7th, at The Legend Course (par 72, 6,652 yards) of Seolhaewon in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, during the first round of the KLPGA Tour Celltrion Queens Masters (total prize money 1.2 billion KRW), she collected nine birdies (one bogey). She posted an 8-under-par 64, leading by three strokes. She is approaching a historic record as the first player in KLPGA Tour history to win the same tournament four times in a row. She has won this tournament from 2021 through last year.
Park Min-ji energized the course with four consecutive birdies from holes 10 to 13, and after a bogey on hole 15, she fired three consecutive birdies from holes 16 to 18. She added back-to-back birdies on holes 6 and 7 in the back nine. This ties the course record. Her tee shots never left the fairway even once, and she missed the green only twice. This is her first win of the season and the 19th win of her career.
In a post-round interview, Park Min-ji expressed satisfaction, saying, "I played without a single regret." She said, "I really wanted to play well, so I spent several days thinking about how to keep that desire from showing in my shots and play smoothly. If that feeling came through in my shots, I thought I would be more nervous than my actual skill level." She reflected, "From the start, opportunities and challenges perfectly aligned, leading to a good score and allowing me to play comfortably."
Park Min-ji did not have any practice rounds except for participating in the pro-am. "I played so poorly in the pro-am that my partners encouraged me to take an extra shot and helped me practice and gave me putting tips. It was my first time experiencing that, and it helped a lot," she said with a smile. "Since my shots were off, I had to rely on many long putts, which actually helped me better understand the course characteristics and practice more intensively." She added, "These days, even during tournaments, I try to read a book or sleep during any free five minutes or a chapter of time when I can look at my phone." She introduced, "Recently, I read a book called ‘Breakthrough Power’ for the second time, and it mentioned that 'death is always close by.' Although death seems unrelated to us right now, since we never know what will happen, we should not waste time and live our best for the future."
Park Min-ji said, "These days, I live with the mindset that 'today is just one of many passing days, so I want to feel today.' In the past, even though my results were good, I felt stressed the more I played, but now I have changed to a mindset of taking it easy." She added, "It looks like there will be rain and wind tomorrow, but if I play steadily, I have many good experiences playing well on this course, so it should be fine." She revealed, "I have a winning pledge that I have not disclosed yet, and I hope to achieve the 4 consecutive wins and carry it out."
The tournament organizer, Celltrion, decided to support the attempt at the first-ever 4 consecutive wins in a single KLPGA tournament by offering a special bonus of 300 million KRW in addition to the 216 million KRW winner’s prize if the 4 consecutive wins are achieved. Therefore, if Park Min-ji wins, she will receive a total of 516 million KRW combining the winner’s prize and the special bonus. If another player wins, a special bonus of 100 million KRW will be awarded. The special bonus will not be reflected in the official KLPGA records.
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