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Women’s Golf: Korea Dominates World Ladies Championship

By Elizabeth Bethel

DONGGUAN, CHINA - MARCH 13: Jung Min Lee of South Korea poses with her trophy during the Prize giving ceremony of the World Ladies Championship 2016 on 13 March 2016 at Mission Hills Olazabal Golf Course in Dongguan, China. (Photo by Power Sport Images/Getty Images)
DONGGUAN, CHINA - MARCH 13: Jung Min Lee of South Korea poses with her trophy during the Prize giving ceremony of the World Ladies Championship 2016 on 13 March 2016 at Mission Hills Olazabal Golf Course in Dongguan, China. (Photo by Power Sport Images/Getty Images) /
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With dual wins at Mission Hills Korean players continue to dominate in women’s golf.

In women’s golf Korean players have again dominated both the individual stroke play and the team competition at the LET’s World Ladies Championship under very challenging conditions.

This was the first edition of the World Ladies Championship to be sanctioned by the Korean LPGA Tour as well as the Ladies European Tour and China LPGA and resulted in nine KLPGA players in the top 12 places in total.

World No.35 Lee Jung-Min stormed to her eighth career title with a one stroke victory over compatriots Lee Seung-Hyun, Kim Bo-Kyung and Ji Han Sol at Mission Hills Resort Dongguan in China.

Despite dropping two strokes in the last three holes, eight birdies in a final round 66 was just enough for Lee to hold on as her closest challengers all blew their chances in damp and testing conditions on the Olazabal Course.

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It was a tight finish as the clubhouse leader Lee dropped into a three-way share of the lead with namesake Lee and Ji at nine-under-par after making bogey on the final hole. She then watched as Lee then made the same mistake.

After Kim ended on eight under par, Ji needed to birdie the difficult par-4 18th to tie. Although she hit an excellent approach shot that just edged the hole, she pushed her birdie putt of 12 feet wide of the hole. After that mistake Lee took home the individual title and €95,231.85 (US$106,000) in prize money.

There was double cause for celebration for Lee. She also won the concurrent team competition with partner Ko Jin-Young, “the other Ko.” An aggregate score of 12-under-par put the South Korean team 15 strokes ahead of the French duo Gwladys Nocera and Céline Herbin, with Chinese Taipei pair Lin Tzi-Chi and Kuo Ai-Chen five strokes further behind in third.

We’ll see Lee and Ko again on one or more of the women’s golf global stages this year — at CordeValle, at Woburn, at Evian.

"“I was very surprised to win because I didn’t feel that I played my best and I wasn’t in the leading group,” said Lee, 24, who earned three titles on the Korean LPGA Tour in 2015, having turned professional in 2009. “My main goal this year is to get my best ever score on the KLPGA Tour.”"

Another South Korean player, Oh Ji-Hyun, finished outright fifth on seven-under-par, while China’s Liu Yu and Chamchoi Saraporn of Thailand tied for sixth place.

South Korean Lee Min-Young was eighth on four-under-par, while Becky Morgan of Wales shared ninth on three-under with South Koreans Ko, Jung Hee Won and Cho Jeong Min. China’s Man Jin was the only amateur to make the cut and ended in equal 19th place.

Next: Women's Golf: 10 to Watch in 2016

Other notable performances came from the Australians Stacey Keating and Sarah Kemp, Noora Tamminen of Finland and Céline Herbin of France, who were part of a large group sharing 19th.The Ladies European Tour will next contend for the Lalla Meyrem Cup at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Morocco, May 5-8.

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