[골프한국 하유선 기자] The last day of the second event of the LPGA Tour 2023 season, Honda LPGA Thailand (total prize money: $1.7 million), was held on the 26th at Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course (par 72, 6,576 yards) near Pattaya, Thailand.
The 72 players recorded an average of 69.388 strokes in the first round, 69.807 strokes in the second round, 69.945 strokes in the third round, and 70.432 strokes in the fourth round during the four days of the competition.
Overall, the difficulty gradually increased as the rounds went by, and the overall average for rounds 1 to 4 was 69.892 strokes.
On the last day, the most difficult hole 17 (par 4) averaged 4.306 strokes, and the easiest hole 10 (par 5) averaged 4.347 strokes.
The final round’Daily Best’ score was 8 under par 64 written by Ko Jin-young (28) and Lilia Bu (USA), and Boo, who recorded a final total of 22 under par 266, won the championship.
Boo earned her first LPGA Tour win with a no-bogey play that resulted in eight birdies.
Rookie Natakritta Wongtawirap (Thailand), who ran solo until the day before, recorded 7 birdies, 4 bogeys, and 1 double bogey in the championship group today, 1 under par 71 strokes, unlike stable play in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Record, went down to second place alone (1 under par 267 strokes).
Ataya Titikkun (Thailand), who received the Rookie of the Year award last year, shot 4 under par 68 strokes, but finished in third place (20 under par 268 strokes), one notch behind.
Maya Stark (Sweden) and Celine Boutier (France) scored 271 strokes at 17 under par, tied for fourth place. Stark, who finished runner-up in the opening game last month, recorded two consecutive top-five finishes at the beginning of the second year season.
Ko Jin-young tied for 6th with a total of 16 under par 272 strokes. He leaped 11 steps from the previous day and showed the best finish among Korean players.
World No. 1 Lydia Ko (New Zealand), World No. 2 Nellie Corda (USA), and Riona Maguire (Ireland), who reduced 7 strokes in the final round, tied for 6th place. Lydia Ko, who picked up 5 birdies up to the 15th hole, recorded a double bogey-bogey-par in order in the last three holes to hit a 3 under par 69.
Kim Hyo-joo (28), who wrote 4 birdies and 1 double bogey, was tied for 10th place, three places behind. Anna Nordqvist (Sweden), Georgia Hall, Jodi Eward Shadow (Ireland) and Ashley Buhai (South Africa) are also in the same rank.
Kim Se-young (30) tied for 20th place (12 under par 276 strokes) following showing ups and downs for four days. In the 4th round, he reduced 5 strokes with 6 birdies and 1 bogey, and raised his ranking by 17 places.
Jeon In-ji (28) and Ji Eun-hee (37), who cut 2 strokes each on the last day, recorded a total of 10 under par 278 strokes to maintain a tie for 27th place. Choi Hye-jin (24) fell 8 places to tied for 27th as she might not reduce her at bats with an even par.
Yang Hee-young (34), who won three games in this tournament, and Shin Ji-eun (31), who took the lead in the first and second rounds this week, finished tied for 34th (9 under par, 279 strokes). Alim Kim (28) is also tied for 34th.
Daniel Kang (USA) lost one stroke in the final round and fell to tied for 38th (8 under par 280 strokes). Brooke Henderson (Canada), who won the first tournament of the LPGA Tour 2023 season last month, also slipped to 44th place (7 under par, 281 strokes) by hitting 1 over par 73 that day.
Anna Lin (27) tied for 60th place with a final total of 2 under par 286 strokes, Lee Jung-eun 6 (27) tied for 64th place with 1 under par 287 strokes, and Choi Woon-jeong (33) ranked 71st with a 6 over par 294 strokes.
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