19-Year-Old Minsol Kim Seals Victory with Final-Hole Eagle

First Career Victory at BC Card·Hankyung Ladies Cup
Recommended Player Leads Wire-to-Wire for Four Days
Dream Tour Standout Earns First-Division Spot Starting September

Minsol Kim secured her first career victory with an eagle on the final hole.

On August 24, at Pocheon Hills Country Club (par 72, 6,561 yards) in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, she shot a 3-under-par 69 in the fourth round of the BC Card·Hankyung Ladies Cup on the KLPGA Tour (total prize money: 1.5 billion won), clinching a one-stroke victory at 19-under-par 269. Having already won four times this year on the Dream Tour, the KLPGA’s second-tier circuit, Minsol Kim achieved a wire-to-wire victory, never relinquishing the lead throughout the four days of the tournament.

Minsol Kim is cheering after making a winning eagle on the 18th hole of the 4th round at the BC Card·Hankyung Ladies Cup. Photo by KLPGA

Notably, she entered this event as a recommended player and took home the winner’s prize of 270 million won. The last time a recommended or invited player won on the KLPGA Tour was in 2022, when Arim Kim, an invited player, won the 44th Chris F&C KLPGA Championship. Minsol Kim is the first recommended player to win on the KLPGA Tour in six years, following Haeran Yu at the 2019 Jeju Samdasoo Masters.

Starting the final round tied for the lead, Minsol Kim carded one eagle, three birdies, and two bogeys. By the 15th hole (par 4), she had dropped a shot and slipped back from the leaders. However, she made back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to rejoin the leaders, and then sank a dramatic 10.5-meter eagle putt on the final 18th hole (par 5) to secure her victory. Up until that moment, four players-including Minsol Kim, Seunghee Noh, Dayeon Lee, and Jungmin Hong-were tied at 17-under-par, but Kim’s eagle putt instantly broke the tension and dashed any hopes of a playoff.

“I was very worried because things weren’t going well today, but I’m so happy I finished strong over the last three holes,” Kim said of her victory. “My hands were shaking so much on the final hole.” She added, “I’m still in disbelief because I didn’t expect to win, but I want to play well in the remaining regular tour events this season.” Born in 2006, Minsol Kim has now earned eligibility to compete in the first division regular tour events, starting with the KB Financial Star Championship in the first week of September.

Seunghee Noh, who was tied for the lead until the previous day, finished second by one stroke at 18-under-par 270. Jungmin Hong and Dayeon Lee shared third place at 17-under-par 271. Minji Park, who made her first career hole-in-one on the tour at the 6th hole (par 3), finished tied for ninth at 14-under-par 274. Shinsil Bang finished tied for 12th at 13-under-par 275.