Park grabs global attention with LPGA title in Korea

Park Hyun-kyung claimed her first professional victory yesterday at the Korean LPGA Championship, the first bigpurse golf tournament since the coronavirus pandemic.

Featuring three of the world’s top-10 women players amid a ban on spectators and stringent safety measures, the tournament grabbed global attention with broadcasting rights sold to countries including the United States, Canada and Australia.

Normally overlooked outside South Korea, the tournament is the first high-level event to be played since the US-based LPGA suspended its season in February.

Park prevailed in Yangjusi, north of the capital Seoul, scoring her first victory since turning pro in 2018 to claim $180,000 (Dh661,000) of the $2.5 million purse.

She shot a final-round fiveunder-par 67 to finish 17 under for the tournament – a shot ahead of Bae Seon-woo and third-round leader Lim Hee-Jeong. “The moment I had always dreamt of finally has come true,” Park told cable channel SBS Golf.

World No 3 and double-major winner Park Sung-hyun missed the cut, sixth-ranked Kim Sei-young finished two under for the tournament for joint 46th, while world No 10 Lee Jeong-eun finished 15th at nine under.

To avoid the risk of Covid-19 spread, players were advised to keep two metres distance and minimise physical contact, while touching the pin without gloves was prohibited.

Players also had to wear masks before and after their rounds, but could choose whether or not to do so during play, with most deciding against. Park, 20, held up the trophy wearing a mask at the prize-giving ceremony.

Only four LPGA Tour events have been held this year – the last in Adelaide in February – but the tour has outlined plans to resume in mid-July in Michigan.