Oldest Korean player to win new record
Tickets for the US Women’s Open on the 2nd of next month
Ji Eun-hee (36, Hanwha Q CELLS) won her 6th win in her career, along with the record for the oldest Korean player to win on the LPGA Tour. She also dramatically won the U.S. Women’s Open qualification to be held this week.
On the 30th, Eunhee Ji took the top spot at the ‘Bank of Hope Match Play’, the only match play tournament on the LPGA Tour held at the Shadow Creek Golf Club (par 72) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on the 30th. Ji Eun-hee, who defeated Andrea Lee (24), a Korean-American in the semifinals held earlier that day, by a 4 hole difference (4 strokes left behind 4 & 3 and 3 holes), defeated Japanese rookie Ayaka Furue (22) by 3 holes (3 & 2) in the final. . She took her sixth career trophy to lift the trophy three years and four months after the Diamond Resorts tournament in January 2019. The prize money for the championship is 225,000 dollars (about 280 million won).
Ji Eun-hee, nicknamed Mickey Mouse because her lips look similar when she smiles, defeated Park Hee-young (32 years, 8 months, 17 days), who won the 2020 ISPS Handa Big Open, and became the oldest Korean player to win the championship (36 years old, 16 years old at the time). 1) A new record was written. Ji Eun-hee, the oldest of the tour winners this season, said, “I don’t think I’m old,” said Ji Eun-hee. In the round of 16, Eunhee Ji defeated Hyejin Choi (23) by 2 holes (2&1), and in the quarterfinals, she defeated Madeleine Sachstrom (30, Sweden) by 7 holes (7&6). I saved my stamina.
Ji Eun-hee, who is also the eldest among Korean players on the LPGA Tour, said, “(Kim) Hyo-joo (27), who shared the same dormitory, dropped out first (in the group stage), but she said she cheered for me and went there another day. Thank you so much,” he said. In addition, he thanked his colleagues, saying, “(Choi) Woon-jeong (32) and (Lee) Mi-hyang (29) also gave me a lot of support in the group chat room.”
As the winner of this tournament, she also won the U.S. Women’s Open qualification to be held in Southern Pines, North Carolina, USA from the 2nd. Ji Eun-hee, who stepped on the US Women’s Open stage for 15 consecutive years from 2008, including winning her 2009 championship, said, “The only way to participate in the US Women’s Open was to win. She thought about it and focused a lot on it.” When asked if she had bought a plane ticket to the venue, she couldn’t hide her excitement, saying, “Now I have to go out and get it.” Regarding the possibility of winning the U.S. Women’s Open, Ji Eun-hee said, “I have to go there and rest. After that, I will look at the course and do the same thing as this week.”
Correspondent Hong-gu Kang [email protected]