Hole 16 Decides Fate... Bo Kyeom Park Claims First Major Title After a Nail-Biting One-Stroke Battle

[Financial News] Bo Kyeom Park reached four career victories by becoming a major champion for the first time after a tense, one-stroke battle.
On the 13th, Bo Kyeom Park shot a 1-under 71 in the final round of the KB Financial Group Golden Life Championship, the third major event of the season on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour, held at Blackstone Icheon Golf Club (par 72) in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. The tournament offered total prize money of 1.5 billion won.
With a 5-under 283 total, Bo Kyeom Park narrowly held off the charging Park Ye-ji, Bang Shinsil and Yoo Seo-yeon, who finished at 4-under 284, by one stroke. She took home the winner’s prize of 270 million won.
It was far from an easy day. Starting the final round tied for second, one stroke behind leader Park Ye-ji, Bo Kyeom Park made birdies on holes 1 and 3. However, back-to-back bogeys on holes 5 and 7 left her treading water. She changed the momentum with a birdie on the par-4 eighth, then displayed remarkable composure by playing the final nine holes without a bogey.
The turning point came on the par-3 16th. Yoo Seo-yeon, who had been tied for the lead, made a costly mistake on her par putt and took a bogey. Bo Kyeom Park calmly saved par to move into a one-stroke outright lead. She then made par on both the par-4 17th and par-5 18th to secure the victory over Yoo Seo-yeon, who could not overturn the deficit.


Bo Kyeom Park, who joined the tour in 2017 and has won once every year since 2023, said, "It is rewarding to win the major championship that was one of my personal goals. Blackstone is a course where mistakes come when you try too hard, so I focused on leaving the ball in places where I could make birdie putts more easily." She added, "I definitely want to win multiple times this year."
Meanwhile, Yoo Seo-yeon, who had held the outright lead through the 13th hole and was on the verge of winning her first major, lost the title after painful bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes.
The tour standings also shifted dramatically. Seo Gyo-rim shot a 1-under 71 in the final round to finish alone in fifth at 3-under 285. Her career earnings rose to 1,381,766,000 won, allowing her to overtake Kim Min-sol, who struggled to a tie for 47th at 9-over 297 with 1,375,029,428 won in earnings, and reclaim the money-list lead after one week. Seo Gyo-rim also added 44 points for a total of 563, widening her lead over Kim Min-sol, who has 435 points, to 127 points and strengthening her hold on first place.


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