Chun In-gee sets major record

South Korea’s Chun In-gee poses with her trophy after winning the Evian Championship golf tournament in the French Alps town of Evian-les-Bains, Sunday. / AP-Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

Chun In-gee clinched her second LPGATour title after shooting a record-breaking 21 under par at the Evian Championship in the French town of Evian-Les-Bains, Sunday.

During the final round of the last major championship of this year’s LPGA Tour, the 22-year-old carded a two-under 69 to set the lowest winning total in any major golf championship.

The previous record in the women’s competition was 19 under par while the best total in the men’s championship was 20 under par.

Chun also became the second player in LPGA history to clinch her first two victories at major championships following LPGA Hall of Famer and her fellow countrywoman Pak Se-ri.

Her first LPGA Tour win came in last year’s U.S. Women’s Open. The LPGA Tour has a set of five major championships — ANA Inspiration, Women’s PGA Championship, U.S. Women’s Open, Women’s British Open and the Evian Championship.

With the win, Chun climbed the world rankings from 7 to 3, which is the highest among Korean golfers. This win also definitely paved the way for Chun to win Rookie of the Year. Chun has garnered 1,223 points appearing in 16 LPGA Tour events this season, while second-place Gaby Lopez of Mexico only remained at 427 points.

“I knew 19 under par was the tied record before the final round,” Chun told LPGA.com after her round. “It was more pressure for me, but I tried to think of it as a really good experience. I tried to enjoy it more.”

Despite soggy conditions, Chun kept her lead from start to finish winning by four strokes ahead of her fellow Korean players Ryu So-yeon and Park Sung-hyun, both at 17 under par.

“I don’t know because I feel like I’m dreaming now,” she said. “I tried my best to keep to my game plan, and I thought I might possibly win this time.”

Defending champion and the world’s top player Lydia Ko, who shared 43rd place at the Evian Championship, won the Rolex Annika Major award for displaying the best performance in the majors this season.

To clinch the award, Ko achieved the highest score of 102 for her victory at ANA Inspiration, a second-place finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and a tie for third at the U.S. Women’s Open. A major championship victory is worth 60 points, with 24 points for second place and 18 points for third place.

Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand remained second with 96 points while Chun was ranked third with 90 points.

“It means a lot, especially because coming into this year my goal was to be more consistent in the majors. And this is exactly the award for that, and obviously you need a win to have that, and to have it named after Annika and how successful she’s been in the majors and just in general and what she’s done for the game, I think there might not be some of us here if it wasn’t for a player like her,” Ko said.