Korea's 14 Consecutive Tournaments Without a Title... Strom Wins with a 60-Stroke Score

Anna Lin ShopRite Classic Ties for 6th Best Finish
Shin Ji-eun 9th, Ko Jin-young and Lee Jeong-eun6 Tied 12th
Most Winless Tournaments in 24 Years Since 2000
Strom's 6th Ever 60, 7-Shot Comeback Show

Taeguk Nangja once again failed to secure a victory.

Anna Lin is teeing off at the 8th hole of the final 3rd round of the ShopRite Classic.
[Callaway (USA)=AFP·Yonhap News]

On the 9th (local time), at the Seaview Bay Course (Par 71, 6,190 yards) in Galloway, New Jersey, USA, the LPGA Tour ShopRite Classic (total prize money $1.75 million) concluded, but she could not reach the top. Anna Lin achieved the best result by finishing tied for 6th place (10 under par, 203 strokes). Shin Ji-eun, who was leading by one stroke after the second round, lost one stroke and dropped to a tie for 9th place (9 under par, 204 strokes). Ko Jin-young and Lee Jeong-eun 6 finished tied for 12th place (8 under par, 205 strokes) to close the tournament.

Since the season opener, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January, Korean players have suffered a slump with no wins in 14 consecutive tournaments up to the ShopRite Classic. This is the longest streak without a victory by Korean players since 24 years ago in 2000. In 2000, Park Ji-eun earned the first win for Korean players at the 16th tournament after the season started, the CVS Charity Classic. Since 2000, the first Korean player wins after the season opener came at the 14th tournament in both 2008 and 2014.

Korean players have been overshadowed this year on the LPGA Tour by the momentum of world No. 1 Nelly Korda (USA). She has won an impressive six times in just nine tournaments. During this period, she also set a remarkable record of five consecutive tournament wins. Ko Jin-young, who had led the tour and is a former world No. 1 with 15 career wins, has not won due to lingering injury effects. Newcomers to the LPGA Tour such as Lee So-mi, Sung Yu-jin, and Lim Jin-hee have yet to announce any victories.

Rinea Strom

While Korean players faltered, Linnea Strom (Sweden) shot an 11-under-par 60 on the day to complete a come-from-behind victory (14 under par, 199 strokes). Starting tied for 52nd place, 7 strokes behind, she made one eagle and nine birdies. This was her first career win since debuting on the LPGA Tour in 2019. The winner's prize money was $262,500 (approximately 360 million KRW). Strom joined the exclusive ‘60 Club’ on the LPGA Tour for the sixth time in history, the first since Jessica Korda (USA) in 2021. On the LPGA Tour, the ‘living golf legend’ Annika Sorenstam (Sweden) is the only player to have shot the ‘dream 59’ in 2001.