Overcame the 'Irregular Worker' Sorrow... Ko Ji-won Wins First Victory in Hometown Jeju

Ko Ji-won, from Jeju, won her first career victory on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) tour, shedding her status as a conditional entrant. It was a victory in front of her hometown fans, befitting her nickname 'Daughter of Jeju'.

On the 10th, Ko Ji-won recorded 3 under par 69 strokes in the final round of the KLPGA Tour Jeju Samdasoo Masters held at Cypress Golf & Resort North-West Course (par 72) in Seogwipo City, Jeju, and rose to the top with a final total of 21 under par 267 strokes. It was a complete victory, beating second place No Seung-hee by 2 strokes.

Ko Ji-won's victory is significant as it is her first win in her hometown. Having gone through Jeju Nohyeong Elementary and Jungmun Middle School, she said, "Winning in front of Jeju fans is special," and "I am grateful to everyone who supported me."

With the addition of the winning prize of 180 million won, Ko Ji-won jumped to 19th place (337.27 million won) in the season's prize money rankings.

At the beginning of the season, she was an 'irregular worker' going back and forth between the Dream Tour and the regular tour, but now she has established herself as a full-time regular tour player who can plan for next year and beyond.

Ko Ji-won passed the seed test in 2022 and debuted on the tour in 2023, but her first two years were times when she couldn't make her presence known. In both her debut season and the following year, she fell outside the top 60 in the prize money rankings and couldn't keep her seed, taking the seed test three times.

Even in last year's third seed test, she only ranked 42nd, so this year the Dream Tour, which is the second division, was her main stage. Participation in the regular tour was only possible when vacancies occurred. She participated in only 9 out of 17 tournaments in the first half of the season, and this tournament was her 10th participation of the season.

According to the original plan, she had to return to the Dream Tour after the tournament. However, the situation changed with the victory. Now, she has received a full seed and can participate in all remaining regular tour tournaments, securing her seed until 2027.

Ko Ji-won's victory is also significant for her family. Her sister Ko Ji-woo is already a player with three wins on the KLPGA tour. She also stood at the top this season by winning the Maekyung·Mona Yongpyong Open in June. The case of both sisters becoming champions is the second in KLPGA tour history, following the Park Hee-young and Park Joo-young sisters, and it is the first time they have both won in the same season.

The tournament was held under weather variables. The third round the day before was only played up to the 14th hole due to worsening weather, so a total of 22 holes had to be completed, including the remaining 4 holes in the morning. Ko Ji-won, who reduced 6 strokes in the third round and rose to the sole lead, widened the gap by 4 strokes with consecutive birdies on the 5th hole (par 5) and 6th hole (par 4) at the beginning of the final round. However, after the middle, she allowed pursuit as her putts repeatedly missed. No Seung-hee narrowed the gap to 2 strokes on the 14th hole, but her momentum was broken with a bogey on the 16th hole.

No Seung-hee succeeded in a birdie on the 17th hole (par 3), following by 2 strokes again, but both players recorded birdies on the last hole, maintaining the gap.

This victory completely erased the disappointment of just a week ago. Ko Ji-won started the final round as the leader at the Aurora World Ladies Championship last week but allowed Bae So-hyun to overtake her and ended up as the runner-up. The bitter experience at that time greatly helped in this tournament.

Meanwhile, Yoon Ina, who returned to the KLPGA stage to defend her title, tied for third place with Lee Da-yeon with a total of 17 under par 271 strokes.



jsi@fnnews.com Jeon Sang-il Reporter