Golf: Park Ji-young wins Hana Financial Group S’pore Women’s Open after rain washes out final round
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South Korea Park Ji-young celebrates with the trophy after winning the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open on Sunday.
COURTESY OF HANA FINANCIAL GROUP
SINGAPORE – Park Ji-young’s hard work in the first two rounds of the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open had propelled her to the top of the leaderboard and her reward was victory on Sunday without having to hit a ball.
Inclement weather meant the third and final round was cancelled and the South Korean, who had led the 102-player field at Tanah Merah Country Club with an 11-under 133 total, was declared winner of the inaugural event.
The world No. 72 finished one stroke ahead of compatriots Lee So-young, Park Hyun-kyung and Hong Jung-min at the 2023 Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour season opener.
On Sunday morning, only seven groups of players were able to get out on the Tampines Course before play was halted at 8.50am. Just under three hours later came the announcement that the final round would be called off.
Ji-young, 26, said: “I have put in a lot of effort into this game and into golf in general and I think my efforts have been rewarded finally. This is the beginning of the 2023 series and I believe this will be a good start for me.”
She had begun the $1.1 million tournament with a six-under 66 and continued her fine form on Saturday. She returned with an unblemished scorecard after posting a bogey-free 67 to seize control with 18 holes left.
But even then, she was not satisfied with the consistency of her shots and after finishing her second round, headed straight for the driving range to practise for another two hours.
The victory in Singapore is Ji-young’s fifth title on the Korean circuit and she hopes it will not be the only one this season.
She said: “Throughout my career, I’ve never had multiple wins in a season so hopefully that’s something for me to experience this year. One of my career goals is to have the lowest (average) score out of all the Tour players and that’s something that I want to achieve next year.”
Park Ji-young won by a shot with an 11-under 133 total after Sunday’s final round was cancelled due to inclement weather.
The SWO, co-sanctioned by the Singapore Golf Association (SGA) and KLPGA, was scheduled for 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.
The tournament was headlined by Thai world No. 3 Atthaya Thitikul and the field included former world No. 1 Shin Ji-yai. Atthaya finished joint-ninth at 137, while Shin was tied-53rd on 143.
Koh Sock Hwee and Shannon Tan were the two Singaporeans to make the cut. They finished joint-28th and joint-53rd respectively, with Tan taking home the low amateur title with a one-under 143.
The 18-year-old had carded a four-over 76 on Friday but recovered the next day, firing a 67 to make her first cut in a professional tournament.
While she did not get the chance to meet her goal of lowering her score on Sunday, she was pleased with her overall performance.
Shannon, who enrolled in Texas Tech University three months ago, believes playing in the LPGA Tour qualifying school and college events has helped her improve, especially in terms of stamina as the three-round competitions are usually spread over two days.
On the SWO, she added: “To me, it sends a message that I can compete with them (top golfers) and playing with really good professionals this week, I saw what I had to improve on and that it’s actually possible to compete on this stage.”
