Ko Ji-woo Wins KLPGA High1 Resort Open, Securing 4th Career Victory

Ko Ji-woo has claimed a wire-to-wire victory at the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour High1 Resort Ladies Open, which featured a total prize purse of 1 billion won.

On the final day of the tournament held today at the High1 Country Club (par 73) in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, Ko carded a 2-over-par 75 with two bogeys, but she managed to maintain her lead without allowing any comeback.

After tying for first place in the first round and taking sole possession of the lead in the second round, Ko never relinquished the top spot on the leaderboard. She finished with a total of 22-under-par 270, marking her first win of the season and the fourth of her KLPGA Tour career, earning a prize of 180 million won.

Remarkably, all four of Ko's victories have come in tournaments held in Gangwon Province.

Ko, who hails from Jeju Island, secured her first KLPGA Tour win at the 2023 McCol-Mona Yongpyong Open. She then won the High1 Resort Ladies Open in 2024, the McCol-Mona Yongpyong Open in 2025, and has now captured the trophy at the High1 Resort Ladies Open again this year.

With this victory, Ko has climbed to 16th in the season prize money rankings and 12th in the KLPGA Grand Prize points standings.

Although Ko began the fourth round with an 8-stroke lead, she appeared nervous, failing to record a single birdie on the front nine while dropping two strokes with two bogeys.

After her second bogey of the final round on the 4th hole (par 5), Ko maintained a steady string of pars for the remaining 14 holes until the 18th.

In the official press conference following her win, Ko expressed some disappointment, saying, "I wasn't thinking about protecting my score; I wanted to play aggressively to make birdies, but it didn't go as planned."

Reflecting on her struggles with injury earlier in the season, Ko added, "I even thought I might have to quit golf due to a finger injury. I learned to take better care of my body, and that has made me mentally stronger."

Because of the significant stroke lead she held at the start of the fourth round, no serious challengers emerged to threaten her position.

Park Hye-jun and Sung Yu-jin, who both shaved 4 strokes off their scores on the final day, finished tied for second at 17-under-par 275, 5 strokes behind Ko.

Defending champion Bang Sin-sil finished tied for 29th with a total of 8-under-par 284, while rookie Kim Min-sol, who has already secured three wins this season, finished tied for 34th at 7-under-par 285.

(Photo: Courtesy of KLPGA, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.