Day 2: Hee-Jung Lim, 6 wins away from a career-high…”My score will be the winning score”
“The winning score? It will be my score on the final day.”
For the second straight day, Lim Hee-jeong struck gold on her way to her first win of the Korean Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour season.
Lim fired a 5-under 67 with six birdies and one bogey on the second day of the KLPGA Tour’s newest event, the Sangsangin-Korea Economic TV Open ($1.2 billion in prize money), at the par-72 Mulgil Hwanggil Course at Lakewood Country Club in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday.
At 12-under-par 132, Lim held a five-stroke lead over second-place finisher Kim Min-byul (7-under 137).
Lim made her KLPGA Tour debut in 2019 and burst onto the scene with three wins in her first year. She followed that up with one win each in 2021 and 2022, and recently won the popularity award for the second year in a row.
Her official fan cafe currently has 3991 members. Many fans follow her and cheer her on in every competition.
This year, however, she has yet to win a title. Due to frequent injuries, she had to take a break from the tour for about a month and a half after the Korean Women’s Open in June. Her best finish this year was a tie for fourth at the Samdasu Masters in Jeju in August.
It has been a year and four months since the Korean Women’s Open last June, and Lim will be looking for her first win. She is the favorite to win the tournament after passing the return point.
If she holds onto the lead until the final day and wins the first-place prize of 216 million won, she will surpass 3.5 billion won ($3.556 billion) in career earnings. She will also end the season with a confidence boost that is just as valuable as a win.
“It was very windy today, which made the greens hard and difficult to hit,” said Lim. “I was in great shape this week and was aiming for a ‘no-bogey’ game, but unfortunately it didn’t happen today. Still, I had a satisfying day,” she said.
Lim’s fans cheered him on along the course as he thanked them, saying, “My fans are more important than my family,” and then added, “When I was playing poorly, their support was honestly a burden. This week, I’m relaxed because my performance is good,” she smiled.먹튀검증
Finally, Lim Hee-jung said, “I have imagined winning a lot, and I dream of winning every tournament,” adding, “There are still two days left, so I will focus on my play. My score on the last day will be the winning score,” she said, expressing her confidence.
Hwang Yoo-min, who is competing with Kim Min-byul for the Rookie of the Year award, finished in a tie for third place with a total of 6-under par 134.
In addition to Hwang, the top three includes Park Hyun-kyung, Kim Soo-ji, Lee So-mi, Park Bo-gyeom, and Choi Ga-bin, all of whom will be looking to make an upset over the next two days.
Lee, who leads all players in money (1.267 billion won), points (562) and lowest scoring average (70.67) this season, remained in a tie for ninth place with a 5-under par 139 total.
Bang, who picked up his second win of the season at last week’s Dongbu Construction-Korea Land Trust Championship on a modified stableford format, missed the cut after dropping four strokes on the day.