15-year-old amateur Lee Hyo-song (15) won the JLPGA Tour by surprise and set several records, including the youngest to win a major championship.
Lee Hyo-song won the fourth round of the JLPGA Tour World Ladies Salonpas Cup (total prize money of 120 million yen) at Ibaraki Golf Club (par 72) in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, on the 5th, combining one eagle, five birdies and two bogeys for a 5-under 67.
Lee Hyo-song, who has no record of winning the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour, beat out prominent professionals and lifted the trophy first in the JLPGA.
Lee Hyo-song, who was born on Nov. 11, 2008 and won at the age of 15 years and 176 days, set a new record as the youngest winner of the JLPGA Tour at 15 years and 293 days, which was set by Minami Katsu of Japan in 2014 at the Vanserin Ladies of the KKT Cup, broke the record for the youngest winner in history by about four months.
Japan’s Kyodo News also said, “Korean amateur player Lee Hyo-song won the JLPGA Tour’s youngest title at the age of 15.”
It is the second time for a Korean amateur to win the JLPGA Tour since Kim Hyo-joo in 2012. It is also the eighth time for a Korean amateur to win the JLPGA Tour, and the first time in four years and five months since Bae Sun-woo, who won the Rico Cup Tour Championship in December 2019.
Lee started the final round tied for 10th by seven shots and overcame such a gap to win the title. She reversed the gap by seven shots for the first time in the JLPGA Tour history, and Lee also set a new record of winning the title by tying for the most pars.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee said, “I am very honored, happy, and grateful to win a major championship in Japan. I will become a player who works even harder in the future.”
Also, Lee Hyo-song said, “I was very excited and happy to be able to participate in such a big competition as an amateur,” adding, “The goal was not to be greedy and to focus on my play every day and not do 3 putts.”
In particular, regarding the eagle on the 18th hole (par 5), which decided the game, he said, “I thought I would try to compete for the eagle with 3 under par until the 17th hole,” adding, “The result came out as I targeted the tee shot, second shot and eagle putt.”
Lee Hyo-song won the World Team Championship last year and has won two consecutive amateur major competitions, the Kang Min-gub Korean Amateur Championship, in 2022 and 2023. As a member of the national team, Lee stands out by winning the runner-up prize at this year’s Asia-Pacific Women’s Amateur Championship.
On the same day, Lee Hyo-song broke the competition between Lee Ye-won and Miyu Yamashita (Japan), the prize money winners of the Korea-Japan tour.
In the first half of the fourth round, Lee finished with two birdies without a bogey. After exchanging two birdies and bogeys at the 12th and 16th holes, Lee garnered birdies at the 17th (par 3) to gradually pressure the team to take the lead.
The highlight was the 18th hole (par 5). After having a bold 2 on, Lee dropped an eagle putt to join the lead. And as Lee Ye-won, Yamashita and Shri Sakuma of Japan collapsed on their own, Lee lifted the trophy without extra time.
Unfortunately, Lee Hyo-song is an amateur, so she cannot receive the prize money (24 million yen).
Among other Korean players, Lee Ye-won finished the tournament in third place (6-under 282), Shin Ji-ae tied for fourth (5-under 283) and Bae Sun-woo (4-under 284) finished sixth.
BY: 토토사이트링크