Sophomore player wins 1st golf tournament held during pandemic in S. Korea

All News 16:42 May 17, 2020

YANGJU, South Korea, May 17 (Yonhap) -- Second-year domestic tour pro Park Hyun-kyung has won the first golf tournament held in South Korea during the coronavirus pandemic.

Park captured the 42nd Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Championship in Yangju, just north of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, on Sunday, at 17-under 271. By carding a 67 on Sunday at Lakewood Country Club, Park held off Bae Seon-woo and Lim Hee-jeong by one stroke for her first KLPGA victory and also her first KLPGA major championship.

Park Hyun-kyung of South Korea hoists the champion's trophy after winning the 42nd Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Championship at Lakewood Country Club in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, on May 17, 2020. (Yonhap)

Park took home 220 million won (US$178,400) in the winner's prize. This was her 29th career KLPGA start.

Park began the day at 12-under, trailing the overnight leader, Lim, by three strokes. Park had three birdies and a bogey on the first nine, and still trailed Lim by two shots standing at the 10th tee.

Park made a crucial par putt on that hole to stay within two of Lim, and she then reeled off three straight birdies to jump to the top of the leaderboard.

Park birdied the par-four 13th to take the lead at 17-under, and Lim bogeyed that hole for a two-shot swing.

Lim cut the deficit to one with a birdie at the 15th, but Park closed with five straight pars to preserve her one-shot victory.

This was the first KLPGA tournament in South Korea in 2020. The tour opened its season in Vietnam in December but had been on hold until this week due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This tournament was played without fans, while players and caddies had to abide by quarantine measures, such as going through temperature checks and wearing masks.