Lotte's Kim Hyo-joo has successfully achieved her 7th victory on the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) tour. After finishing her victory interview, Kim Hyo-joo raised her thumb towards the camera. Could it be seen as a supportive message to encourage the Lotte Group, which is experiencing a crisis?
Kim Hyo-joo (29) won in a playoff at the LPGA tour 'Ford Championship' held at the Wewind Golf Club (par 72/6661 yards) in Chandler, Arizona, which concluded on the morning of the 31st Korean time. The total prize money is $2.25 million (approximately 3.3 billion won), with the winner's prize amounting to $337,500 (approximately 490 million won).
The final total for the 4 rounds in regular holes was 22 under par 266 (69-66-67-64). A distinct trend of better scores was observed as the rounds progressed. This was the driving force that allowed her to cleanly finish the playoff against the United States' Lillia Vu in the first round.
Kim Hyo-joo recorded 9 birdies and 1 bogey in the final round's regular 18 holes. Most of the birdies were made from a distance of just over 2 meters, showing a high level of accuracy in both second shots and putts.
In the playoff against Lillia Vu, while Vu left a distance of about 2.5 meters on her second shot, Kim Hyo-joo positioned her ball just 1.5 meters away. Vu failed her birdie attempt, while Kim Hyo-joo successfully made hers.
After securing her victory, Kim Hyo-joo noted in an interview with the broadcast team, "I'm happy to win after a long time. I prepared hard last winter, and I'm even happier that the results came out quicker than expected."
Kim Hyo-joo did not report a victory last season.
The most recent victory record is from October 2023, when she won the 'LPGA Volunteers of America'. Kim Hyo-joo's LPGA total victory record has now reached 7 wins after adding one win for the first time in 1 year and 5 months.
Among Korean players, Im Yong-hyang tied for 6th place with a total of 18 under par, and Kim Ah-rim tied for 13th place with 16 under par.
Lotte's golf team recently achieved good results in a team competition held in the country.
On the 23rd, Team Lotte, paired with Lee So-young and Hwang Yu-min, secured victory for the third consecutive year at the 'Fantastic Zoo - DIO Ocean Cup Golf Club Competition'. The 'Fantastic Zoo - DIO Ocean Cup Golf Club Competition' is an event held before the KLPGA tour season opens, and only the first year of the tournament, founded in 2022, was won by Mediheal, while Lotte has carried away the trophy for the last three years.
It has been customary for the sports team to support the group during difficult times.
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