Park Chae-yoon earns grail at Hanwha Classic

Park Chae-yoon poses with her trophy after winning Hanwha Classic 2019 at Jade Palace Golf Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Sunday. / Yonhap

By Kim Jeong-kyoo

Park Chae-yoon held the coveted trophy aloft at Hanwha Classic 2019, Sunday, capping off her final round with a tap-in par putt on the 72nd hole.

With a decent final round of 3-under 69, the 25-year-old finished at a 5-under 283 to edge out three rivals including longtime leaders Nelly Korda and Kim So-yi. She notched a one-stroke victory for her second career KLPGA Tour title and her first major.

The champion had rounds of 71-70-73-69 at the tough 6,737-yard par-72 Jade Palace Golf Club in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. The course set-up for the major featured narrow fairways and the thick, ankle-high rough, which plagued most players. Missing a fairway could spell a quick bogey.

She rattled off two birdies on holes 2 and 4, charging ahead into a tie for third place with Kim Hyo-joo and Lee Ga-young, three shots behind the leader. Playing the front nine in 2-under 34, she made the turn at 4-under, a single stroke behind the leaders.

Park did not do much on her own to clinch the victory. Her stumbling rivals helped her. When she birdied the 16th, she found her atop the leaderboard as they frittered away their leads.

After all, she clinched the title with the birdie on the 16th hole. She led the field by two strokes without extra efforts as Kim So-yi and Korda incurred successive bogeys on the 13th and 14th holes.

Playing two groups ahead of the final group, Park capped the par-5 18th with a par before taking to the clubhouse with a 5-under lead, a stroke clear. And Korda's bogeying the 17th to fall back two shots behind set the seal on her triumph. She earned 350 million won in prize money.

“I played without a strong desire to win as I was not in top form. I did not put in strenuous efforts to charge ahead. I just applied my mind to hitting the ball,” she said in a televised interview. “Also, I applied my mind to how to avoid throwing away my chances to reduce the score.”

The champion did not put up a tight race for an inexorable stroll to her first win this season. Park stayed poised and calm throughout the round while the overnight leader Korda self-destructed. Probably, the final round pressure was getting to her.

Longtime leader Korda hit an even-par 72 in the thunderstorm-delayed first round. Roughly one third of the field had to finish their remaining first-round holes early Friday morning. In the fog-delayed second round on Friday, she reeled in five birdies against a bogey, climbing to take sole fourth place, a shot adrift of three co-leaders. Saturday was an exercise in magnificent play. She fired a four-under 68 for an overall eight-under 208.

Standing on the first tee on Sunday, Korda was two shots clear of Kim So-yi at 6-under and three shots clear of Kim Hyo-joo and Lee Ga-young. However, she slumped with two birdies against four bogeys, plus a double-bogey.

With the revolting double-bogey on the sixth, Korda all but blew her chance. After pulling her tee shot way left under the rock, she finished the hole with a terrible six. Still, she shared the lead twice with Kim So-yi, her playing partner and another longtime leader. She hit a 4-over 76 to share second place with Kim and Lee Jung-min.

Seasoned player Kim So-yi started the day two shots behind the overnight leader. She rattled off a precious birdie on the par-3 seventh to share the lead with Korda for the first time. With a birdie on the 10th, she resumed her joint lead with Korda. Despite her all-out efforts, however, she finished the day at a 2-over 74 to share the second place with three others.

Lee Jung-min reeled in her second birdie of the day on hole 14 to trail the three leaders at 4-under with four holes to play. Getting through the remaining four holes without incident, she finished the day at a 2-under 70 for an aggregate score of 4-under 284. She ended tied for second place.