Round 4: In Gee Chun Claims 8th Worldwide win of 2015, Fifth Major
The day started with relative unknown Hae Rym Kim holding a two shot lead, but she had the uneasy task of fighting off three of the best players in the field: In Gee Chun, Jung Min Lee and Inbee Park. And Lee and Chun were playing with her in the final group.
Kim proved surprisingly up for the task. On the front nine, she had two bogies and no birdies, but she still maintined her lead after a birdie on ten.
Meanwhile, her opponents started to fall away. Jung Min Lee made two bogies on the front and would not make a birdie until the 14th. She was never a factor and finished solo fourth.
Inbee Park was more dangerous. Starting the day four back, she closed the gap completely by the turn. But Kim's birdie on 10 and a bogey on 11 for Park dropped her two back. She was never able to make up the ground, although a fantastic fifty-foot birdie putt on 18 allowed her to finish at 9 under total.
One player, however, did continue to push Kim: tour superstar In Gee Chun. Chun had two birdies and a bogey on the front, but a birdie on 12 after a great tee shot moved her into a tie with Kim at 10 under. Game on!
Kim had a dicey bunker lie on 15 but somehow got it out and saved par to stay tied for the lead. But on 16, In Gee got it close and made birdie to move to 11 under. On 17, she hit the fairway, but a thin tree perfectly stood between her and the flag. And this was an island green, so accuracy was key. Somehow, In Gee hit an immaculate iron over the thin tree and landed it about six feet from the flag. What a spectacular shot at just the right moment! She just missed the birdie that would have given her a two stroke advantage, however.
On 17, Kim missed the green but stayed dry, and chipped about four feet past. Saved par.
It all came down to the final hole, with In Gee holding a one shot lead. In Gee hit a really poor drive well right, and watched as the ball bounced around on the cart path, actually rolling back about 30 yards, leaving her about 193 yards to get onto the green and somewhat blocked by trees. Kim's drive, meanwhile, was perfect.
In Gee considered going for it, but laid up instead, unfortunately into the rough, and well short of the green to boot.
Kim had a golden opportunity to tighten the screws, but her approach wound up short in some rough. In Gee's third carried a deep bunker and rolled about twenty feet past the hole, giving her at least a chance to save par.
Kim's chip ended up well short, maybe 20 feet. In fact, she was farther from the hole than Chun. Her par save, however, was perfectly on line, tracking, tracking... and then stopped literally half a roll from falling. Kim walked around for a while, perhaps hoping it would fall in. No dice. Bogey.
In Gee's par putt looped around the hole, ending up a foot or two past. It never came close to falling. But she easily made bogey, claiming her second KLPGA Major in three tries this year.
This win will move her above the 900 million won mark in season earnings, the second highest season earnings in KLPGA history. It is her fifth win on tour this year, and fifth Major on three different tours. She happily lifted the trophy as Queen's 'We Are The Champions' blared in the background.
Congratulations to In Gee Chun on another fantastic, brilliant performance!
Scores:
1. In Gee Chun 69 -10
2. Hae Rym Kim 73,
Inbee Park 69 -9
4. Jung Min Lee 73 -8
5. Ka Ram Choi 69, Seon Woo Bae 72 -6
Notables:
7. Min Song Ha 74
10. Seung Hyun Lee 70 -3
15. Yoon Ji Cho 69, Gyeol Park (R) 70 -2
17. Char Young Kim 69, Ran Hong 72 -1
24. Song Yi Ahn 71, Je Yoon Yang 70, Shi Hyun Ahn 73, Min Sun Kim 5 77 Even
31. Sung Hyun Park 70 +2
35. Ji Hee Kim 75 +3
39. Jung Eun Lee 5 73, Chae Young Yoon 71, Ji Hyun Oh 77 +4
43. Min Young Lee 75 +5
46. Hye Youn Kim 73, Shin Ae Ahn 76 +6
62. Ji Na Lim 85 +14
Pix:
In Gee Chun
Inbee Park
Jung Min Lee
Seon Woo Bae
Min Sun Kim
Sun Jeong Yeun
Gyeol Park
Char Young Kim
Shi Hyun Ahn
Shin Ae Ahn
Je Yoon Yang
Yoon Ji Cho
Song Yi Ahn
Chae Young Yoon
Yuna Park
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