Daina Open 4R Strong Finish with 6-Under Par Rally
Second Win Eludes Since Last Year's Arkansas Championship Victory
Wannasen's 2nd Career Win, Grant 3rd Place, Choi Hyejin 7th Place
Yoo Hae-ran was satisfied with her runner-up finish.
Yoo Hae-ran is teeing off at the 2nd hole of the 4th round of the Dana Open. [Sylvania, USA=AFP·Yonhap News]
On the 21st (local time), at the Highland Meadows Golf Club (par 71, 6,555 yards) in Sylvania, Ohio, USA, Yoo shot a 6-under 65 in the final round of the LPGA Tour Dana Open (total prize money $1.75 million) to finish second by one stroke (19-under 265). She failed to secure her second career win nine months after her first victory at the Arkansas Championship last October. This marks her best performance this year and her seventh top-10 finish.
Starting the round three strokes behind in second place, Yoo collected seven birdies and one bogey. She got off to a start with a birdie on the 6th hole (par 3), followed by “stepping stone birdies” on the 10th and 12th holes, and consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th holes, eventually taking the top spot on the leaderboard. A bogey on the 16th hole (par 4) slowed her momentum, dropping her back to second place by one stroke. She rallied with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes but had no holes left to play. This is her second consecutive top-5 finish following a fifth place at last week’s major, the Amundi Evian Championship.
Yoo Hae-ran first made headlines in 2019 when she was invited to the KLPGA Tour Jeju Samdasoo Masters and won unexpectedly. She quickly earned her full tour card and won once in 2020, claiming the Rookie of the Year title. After accumulating five career wins, she topped the LPGA Tour Qualifying (Q) Series in December 2022 and joined the U.S. circuit the following year. Yoo earned Rookie of the Year honors last season with one win and six top-10 finishes, the first Korean to do so since Lee Jeong-eun6 in 2019.
Chanette Wannasaen (Thailand) shot a 4-under 67 to claim the title at 20-under 264. This is her second career win, coming 10 months after winning the Portland Classic through Monday qualifying last September. The winner’s prize was $262,500 (approximately 360 million KRW). Defending champion Linn Grant (Sweden) tied for third place (14-under 270), and Lin Xiyu (China) tied for fifth (12-under 272). From Korea, Choi Hye-jin finished tied for seventh (10-under 274), Jeon Ji-won tied for 13th (9-under 275), Jang Hyo-jun tied for 16th (8-under 276), and Lim Jin-hee tied for 33rd (5-under 279) to close out the tournament.
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