Australia’s Minjee Lee. Photo credit: KLPGA
Major winner Minjee Lee of Australia and Thailand’s Patcharajutar Kongkraphan, a former LPGA regular, ended their week in tied third place, 10 shots behind Ma Dasom, who stunned the chasing pack with her final round 11-under-par 61 to win the Hana Financial Group Championship on Sunday.
Ma clinched her second KLPGA title with a commanding nine-shot victory over compatriot Yoon Ina with her winning total of 19-under-par 269 at the Bear’s Best Golf Club located in Cheongna.
With Ma’s win, the championship continued to be kept on hole soil as no international players have yet to win the Hana Financial Group Championship since it was inaugurated on the KLPGA in 2019.
“I didn’t think I had a chance to win today until the back nine. When I birdied four holes in a row on the back nine, I stayed focused till the end and it paid off. My next goal is to finish inside the top 10 at the KLPGA Majors,” said Ma.
Olympic gold medallist and LPGA Hall of Famer, Lydia Ko finished in outright 10th place after carding her week’s best score of 67.
After closing with a 66 at the Hana Financial Group Championship, Patcharajutar believes she still has the game to compete at the highest level.
Thailand’s Parcharajutar Kongkraphan. Photo credit: KLPGA
The 32-year-old Khon Kaen native played on the LPGA for seven seasons from 2009 to 2017. But with limited status on the LPGA today, she turned her attention to Asia where she has been competing on the domestic tour in China, Chinese Taipei and Thailand.
Patacharjutar, who has 25 professional wins worldwide, returned to her winning ways when she captured the Singha-SAT Thai LPGA Masters on home soil last week.
“It has been a very exciting week. The results were so much better than I had expected. I played alongside so many great Korean players. When I returned to Asia, I started competing and doing well again. I regained my confidence and started to fall in love with golf again. I’m so happy with my game now and I believe I can continue to do well,” said Patacharjutar.
Despite falling short again at the Hana Financial Group Championship, Lee, who lost in a playoff last year, was pleased to give her Korean fans something to cheer about as she returned to the land of her parents’ birth for the first time this year.
“It is always nice to play in front of the Koreans fans, and I have enjoyed their support this week. I hope to be back again very soon,” said Lee.
Meanwhile, in what is likely to be her last competitive tournament before Eila Galitsky – the 2023 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Champion – goes back to school at the University of South Carolina, the 17-year-old is satisfied with her performance where rounds of 71,74, 68 and 74 saw her finish in tied-26th place.
“I haven’t been playing in Korea for a while. It’s a different vibe with all the cheering and yelling. I played decent this week. My putting was good, made a couple of par saves. My approach shots were not as good as I wanted them to be and I just have to work on them.
