Kim Se-young and Choi Hye-jin tied for third place at the LPGA Tour Honda Thailand (total prize money of $1.7 million) .Seiyoung Kim recorded 7 under par 65 with 8 birdies and 1 bogey in the 4th round on the last day of the tournament held at Siam Country Club Old Course (par 72, 6,576 yards) in Chonburi, Thailand on the 25th.Kim Se-young, who had a final total of 18 under par 270 strokes, finished the tournament in a tie for third place with Choi Hye-jin.Kim Se-young, who was tied for 6th place by 5 strokes behind the leader through the 3rd round, started the game with consecutive birdies in holes 1 to 3 on this day and narrowed the gap with the leader to 2 strokes, but it was somewhat difficult to achieve a comeback victory .Seiyoung Kim, who has 12 wins in her career on the LPGA Tour, has not had any wins since the Pelican Championship in November 2020.Last season’s best result was a tie for third place at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in September.
In an interview after the match, Kim Se-young said, “It was nice to see my name at the top throughout the competition. I’m looking forward to the competitions in Singapore and China in the future. Although I haven’t won any games recently, I’m preparing hard with my coach, trainer, and father to get back to the top.” said. Choi Hye-jin also recorded an eagle, 7 birdies, 1 bogey, and 1 double bogey on this day, hitting 6 under par 66 strokes and recording a final total of 18 under par 270 strokes. Choi Hye-jin, who was tied for 3rd place and 4 strokes behind the leader through the 3rd round, has yet to win the LPGA Tour. The winner of this tournament was Patty Tawatanakat (Thailand) with a final total of 21 under par, 267 strokes. Tawatanakat, sponsored by Hana Financial Group, started the final 18th hole (par 5) in a joint lead with Alban Valenzuela (Switzerland).
The second shot fell slightly short of the green and slid downhill, but she sent the third shot right next to the hole to catch a tip-in birdie and win her second LPGA Tour victory .The prize money for winning this competition is $255,000 (about 340 million won). Tawatanakit returned to the top of the LPGA tour tournament in about three years after winning the ANA Inspiration, a major tournament, in April 2021.Last week, she also won the Ladies European Tour (LET) Aramco Saudi Ladies International, holding the trophy for two consecutive weeks. This year’s Tawatanakit is the first time a Thai player has won the LPGA Tour Honda Thailand in three years since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2021.Tawatanakat, who was in the lead by 3 strokes until the 3rd round, but struggled to secure the win in the last hole of the day, said, “I was full of energy in the first 9 holes, but I had to hold on in the 2nd 9 holes,” and added, “The home fans gave me strength and I was able to win in Thailand. “I achieved my dream of winning an open competition,” he said happily.
Valenzuela, who finished the match first with six birdies in eight holes from the 11th to the 18th and tied for the lead, and waited for a playoff, had to be satisfied with second place. Kim Hyo-joo tied for 5th place with 17 under par 271 strokes, and Hae-ran Hae tied for 9th place with 15 under par 273 strokes. Jinyoung Ko finished the tournament in a tie for 20th place with 11 under par 277 strokes. Lilia Bu (USA), winner of this tournament last year, is tied for 7th place with 16 under par 272 strokes. This year’s LPGA tour championships were all won by foreign players, including Lydia Go (New Zealand) at the Hilton Grand Vacations Champions Tournament in January and Nellie Korda (USA) at the Drive-On Championship, followed by Tawatanakit at this tournament. The fourth tournament of the LPGA Tour this season is the HSBC World Championship (total prize money of $1.8 million) held in Singapore for four days starting on the 29th.The ‘defending 온라인카지노 champion’ of this competition is Ko Jin-young.