Going into the final round of the Hite Cup, two glamorous KLPGA stars, Hee Kyung Seo and Ran Hong, were tied for the lead, while top JLPGA Korean Mi Jeong Jeon was just a shot back.  Na Yeon Choi, a recent winner on the LPGA tour, was three shots back.  The defending champion Jiyai Shin, the world’s #2 woman golfer, was five shots back, but considering she had won two LPGA events this year making up deficits of similar sizes, she was certainly someone to watch on Sunday as well.  It seemed likely that the winner of the year’s third KLPGA Major would come from that group.

But the winner would not be Mi Jeong Jeon.  She struggled right out of the chute with a bogey-double bogey start and was never a factor again.  Shin tried her best, but it just wasn’t her day (or her week).  She hovered around one over par for her round all day, and wound up finishing tied for 7th.

Mi Jeong Jeon

The two amateurs who had been such a factor earlier in the week had different fates.  14 year old Hyo Joo Kim, who had been a co-leader the first two rounds, had struggled on Saturday, and she only played slightly better on Sunday.  She carded a 75 to finish at 3 over and tied for 13th.  She didn’t win, but that’s still a pretty good finish for such a young golfer.  She will be one to watch in the future.

The other teen sensation, Hana Jang, had a much better weekend.  She shot a 69 in the final round to get the early clubhouse lead at 3 under total.  She would have to sit and wait to see if it would be good enough.

For most of the morning, the lead vacillated between Ran Hong and Hee Kyung Seo.  Seo took the lead on 2 with a birdie, then both made bogies on three.  Hong made birdie on 4 to move back into a tie for the lead.  On it went until 8, when Seo grabbed the lead again at 6 under with another birdie.  Then Hong made birdie on 8 and 9, and she took the lead.  Seo made bogey on 8, so Hong’s lead became 2, 7 under to 5 under.  But Seo made birdie on 10 to instantly cut that lead to 1.

Ran Hong

Hee Kyung Seo

It was at this point that Ran Hong started to have trouble.  She made bogies on 11 and 12, while Seo birdied 12.  So now Seo was at 7 under while Hong was at 5.  Both birdied 13.  But the pivotal holes were 14-16.  Hong was facing a short par save on 14, but lipped it out.  She then lipped out an equally short bogey save to make a crushing double bogey.  Her luck continued on the next holes, both of which saw her lip out pars.  Amazingly, she had four straight lip outs from short distance.  By the time she was done with that stretch she had fallen to 2 under.  In the same stretch of holes, Seo birdied 12 – 14 to move to 9 under. 

Ran Hong

Hee Kyung Seo

With Ran Hong self destructing, Hana Jang finished at 3 under, and Seo cruising at 9 under, the only player who still threatened Seo was Na Yeon Choi.  Choi got to 5 under by 14, but bogied the 15th.  She was not able to make another birdie and finished the day at 4 under.  All Seo had to do was stay vertical, and the trophy would be hers.

Na Yeon Choi

Despite a minor hickup on 15, when she missed the green and could not get up and down, the rest of the day was a breeze for the Supermodel of the Fairways.  Hee Kyung birdied the final hole and collected a 5 shot win for her second Major of the year.  It was also her first win of the tournament sponsored by her own primary sponsor, Hite, and amazingly only the second time she had beaten Jiyai Shin in a tournament.

Hee Kyung Seo

Most importantly, the win gives Seo a huge leg up for the year end awards on the KLPGA tour.  She had been in a tight battle with Sun Ju Ahn and So Yeon Ryu for the money list and Player of the Year trophies.  This win will no doubt help her get closer to both those awards.  Congratulations to Hee Kyung Seo on another fabulous victory, her ninth, in her storied career!

Hee Kyung Seo: Win #9!

Hee Kyung Seo

Scores:
1. Hee Kyung Seo 72-71-68-68 -9
2. Na Yeon Choi 71-71-72-70 -4
3. Hana Jang (A) 70-72-74-69 -3
4. Ran Hong 72-68-71-75 -2
So Yeon Ryu 72-71-74-69 -2

Notables:
6. Inbee Park 73-70-74-70 -1
7. Jiyai Shin 74-68-74-73 +1
Jee Hee Lee 73-69-75-72 +1
9. Sun Ju Ahn 73-72-72-73 +2
Ha Neul Kim 71-74-71-74 +2
Shin Ae Ahn (R) 72-70-73-75 +2
13. MJ Hur 73-74-75-69 +3
Jin Joo Hong 73-74-71-73 +3
Hyo Joo Kim (A) 70-70-75-76 +3
Bo Mee Lee 74-70-72-75 +3
17. Song Hee Kim 72-75-72-73 +4
Hye Jung Choi 74-76-71-71 +4
Hee Young Park 72-72-74-74 +4
Mi Jeong Jeon 72-70-70-80 +4
21. Bo Kyung Kim 73-71-73-77 +6
23. Eun Hee Ji 76-73-76-70 +7
26. Chae Young Yoon 70-77-72-77 +8
33. Jimin Kang 72-80-75-73 +12
Il Mi Chung 77-72-76-75 +12
Jung Eun Lee 5 74-73-76-77 +12
36. He Yong Choi 74-75-79-73 +13
Hyun Hee Moon 79-73-77-72 +13
Soo Jin Yang (R) 75-73-77-76 +13
47. Ji Na Lim 74-76-74-79 +15
51. Amy Yang 75-73-79-78 +17
60. Soo Yun Kang 74-79-79-76 +20
61. Seon Hwa Lee 2 (R) 72-81-75-82 +22

Missed Cut
Aram Cho 79-75 +10
Soo Young Moon 80-74 +10
Hye In Lee 74-80 +10
Bobea Park 79-75 +10
Kyeong Bae 79-76 +11
Joo Mi Kim 80-80 +16