Yang Hee-young (34), who debuted on the LPGA tour in 2008, has been competing since last week's Annika Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican tournament wearing a 'light hat' without the main sponsor's logo on the hat. In the meantime, he was sponsored by Woori Financial Group, but after his contract ended, he was unable to receive main sponsor sponsorship from another company.
As recently as 2016, Yang Hee-young was a representative player of Korean women's golf, ranking 6th in the world and participating in the Rio Olympics. She had a blast that year, at the US Women's Open, the most prestigious major tournament, where she finished runner-up twice and finished third twice, including a tie for third, and she finished in the top 10 nine times. But she hasn't been in the news for a long time since she won her fourth career win at the LPGA Thailand event in 2019. She was already in her mid-30s, and when her grades were not good, she lost interest from her fans and companies. She fell into a slump in 2020 where she never made the top 10, and last year was her worst year, compounded by her left heel injury.
She fell to 36th in the world rankings, 오피뷰 and Yang Hee-young, who suffered from a long slump, made a spectacular comeback by winning the final match of the LPGA tour season with a single eagle. In the 4th round of the CME Group Tour Championship held at the Tiburon Golf Club Gold Course (par 72) in Naples, Florida, USA on the 20th, Heeyoung Yang showed off her backside by tying 1 eagle, 5 birdies, and 1 bogey, reducing 6 strokes. did. Yang Hee-young, who recorded a final total of 27 under par and 261 strokes, easily beat Nasa Hataoka (24, Japan) and Allison Lee (29, USA) by three strokes, and achieved a thrilling victory four years and nine months after winning the Honda LPGA Thailand in February 2019. I kissed my fifth championship trophy. Yang Hee-young, who had only won LPGA events in Thailand (3 wins) and Korea (1 win), reached the summit for the first time in a competition held on the U.S. mainland, and here she won the 'jackpot' of $2 million (about 2.593 billion won) in winning prize money. ' also exploded.
Heeyoung Yang became the third Korean player to win the Tour Championship in the final game of the season. Jinyoung Ko (28, Solaire) won this competition in 2021 and 2020, and Seyoung Kim (30, Mediheal) won in 2019. Yang Hee-young, who competed with a smile embroidered on the front of her cap because she could not find a main sponsor, said, “I had ups and downs while playing golf, but there was no time like this season when I thought about retirement. I recently suffered from an elbow injury and have many days left in my career as a player.” “I didn’t think so,” he confessed. However, Yang Hee-young said, “With the help of his coach and family, he changed his mind and was rewarded with a win.” He continued, “Age is just a number. “Never give up, have a dream and work hard,” he said, greeting the fans who supported him.
Yang Hee-young, who started the last round with a joint lead with Hataoka, only reduced one stroke with two birdies and one bogey in the first half, while Hataoka reduced two strokes with two birdies, giving NASA the sole lead. The match of the day was the 13th hole (par 4). Yang Hee-young's second shot went just past the pin, but got backspin and was sucked into the hole. With this shot eagle, Yang Hee-young took the lead alone. Hataoka tied for the lead again with a birdie at the 14th hole (par 5), but fell back to second place with a bogey at the 16th hole (par 3). Yang Hee-young did not miss this and easily made a birdie on the 17th hole (par 5), driving a wedge. Yang Hee-young, who reached the 18th hole (par 4) with a 2-stroke lead, dropped her second shot 3 meters from the hole and celebrated her victory with a birdie.
Meanwhile, Lilia Bu (26, USA), who ranked first in the world this season with four wins, including two in major competitions, ranked fourth (21 under par, 267 strokes) and won Player of the Year along with winning the prize money for the first time in her career. Kim Hyo-joo (28, Lotte), who was aiming for the lowest number of strokes, remained tied for 13th place (14 under par, 274 strokes) and gave up the Bear Trophy to Ataya Titikkun (20, Thailand), who ranked 5th (20 under par, 268 strokes). Korean players combined for a total of 5 wins this season, including 2 wins for Ko Jin-young, 1 win for Yoo Hae-ran (22, Daol Financial Group), and 1 win for Kim Hyo-joo.