Seo Kyo-rim has become the first player to secure four wins this season on the Korea Women's Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour.

Playing the final fourth round of the BC Card·Hankyung 48th KLPGA Championship (total purse of 1.5 billion KRW), the season's second major tournament held at Pocheon Hills Country Club (par 72) in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, Seo shot a 2-over-par 74 with two birdies and four bogeys.

Finishing with a final total of 8-under-par 280, Seo tied with Kim Min-sol and claimed the title by winning the subsequent first playoff hole.

The winner's prize is 270 million KRW.

This marks Seo's fourth trophy of the season, following victories at the Celltrion Queens Masters and the Inka Financial The Heaven Masters in June, as well as last week's Mediheal·Hankook Ilbo Championship.

Having debuted on the KLPGA Tour last year and won the Rookie of the Year award without a win, Seo achieved four victories faster than anyone else this season, taking sole possession of first place in multi-wins while maintaining the top spot in both player-of-the-year points (490 points) and scoring average (70.2974 strokes).

In addition, she increased her total prize money for the season to 1,286,766,000 KRW, overtaking Kim Min-sol (1,286,629,428 KRW), who was the leader until last week, to jump to first place.

Notably, Seo competed in the final-group championship battle for the second consecutive week against Kim Min-sol, a fellow 2006-born player with whom she had shared three wins each this season to form a "two-top" rivalry, cementing her status as the tour's new dominant force.

Entering the final round as the sole leader with a three-stroke advantage, Seo struggled significantly in the front nine, throwing the championship race wide open.

She bogeyed consecutive holes on the 3rd (par 5) and 5th (par 4), and on the 7th (par 4) lost another stroke after her second shot landed in a penalty area, allowing Kim Min-sol to tie for the lead.

Kim, who started the day in second place three strokes behind, sank a 1.7-meter birdie putt on the ensuing 8th hole (par 4) to grab the sole lead, while Seo continued to experience shot trouble on the 10th hole (par 5), slipping into a tie for second place two strokes back.

Kim, who maintained a one-stroke lead over the tied runners-up after a three-putt bogey on the 12th hole (par 4), appeared to seize control of the match when she landed her second shot on the 15th hole (par 4) about 3.3 meters from the hole and drained the birdie putt to pull two strokes ahead of the tied second-place group.

However, on the 16th hole (par 3), Seo finally clinched her first birdie of the day to apply pressure within a stroke, and when Kim bogeyed the hole, they were instantly deadlocked in a tie for the lead once again, leaving the destination of the trophy unpredictable until the very end.

On the final 18th hole (par 5), both Kim and Seo birdied, ultimately sending the "Sol-Rim showdown" into a playoff.

On the first playoff hole played on the 18th, Seo pulled her tee shot to the left into the rough, but safely placed her second shot on the fairway before hitting her third shot perfectly close to the hole to secure a birdie.

Kim successfully placed her tee shot in the middle of the fairway, but stumbled following a mistake on her second shot and ultimately finished with a par.

Kim, eyeing her fourth win of her rookie season, had to settle for runner-up honors for the second consecutive week after handing the trophy to Seo following last week's Mediheal·Hankook Ilbo tournament.

Park Min-ji, bidding for her 21st career KLPGA victory, shaved three strokes off her score to place third with a final total of 7-under-par 281, while Moon Jung-min and Go Ji-woo tied for fourth place at 6-under-par 282.

(Photo courtesy of KLPGA, Yonhap News)