Seo Kyo-rim poses with the winner's trophy. [Photo=KLPGA]
Seo Kyo-rim poses with the winner's trophy. [Photo=KLPGA]

Seo Kyo-rim, last year's Rookie of the Year who had yet to win a title, claimed her first career victory Sunday at the KLPGA Tour's Celltrion Queens Masters, which carried a purse of 1.5 billion won (about $981,000).

Playing the final round at Seongmunan Country Club in Wonju, Gangwon Province (par 72, 6,615 yards), Seo fired a 4-under-par 68 to finish at 15-under 201, edging runner-up Kim Min-sun7 by one stroke. Having won the Rookie of the Year title last season without a single victory, Seo lifted her first winner's trophy in her 42nd KLPGA Tour start, breaking into tears as she did so.

Entering the final round tied one stroke off the lead, Seo surged to the outright lead by making four birdies on the front nine. She opened with back-to-back birdies — sinking a 1.2-meter putt on the par-4 first hole and a 4-meter putt on the par-4 second — then converted a 2.7-meter birdie putt on the par-4 seventh. On the par-5 ninth, she stuck her third shot to within 30 centimeters of the pin for a tap-in birdie.

Seo's charge hit a snag at the par-3 12th, where her tee shot found a penalty zone. She limited the damage to a single bogey, however, by holing a testing 7.5-meter putt. She parred the next several holes before running into trouble again at the par-5 16th, where her second shot — aimed at reaching the green in two — flew past and into a bunker. She responded by draining a 7-meter birdie putt to maintain a two-stroke lead.

At the par-5 18th, Seo converted a tricky 2-meter par putt to close out her round, capping back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th that proved just enough to hold off a late charge from Kim Min-sun7 by one stroke.

Collecting a winner's check of 270 million won, Seo said she was overjoyed to secure her first victory. "I'm so happy and thrilled to have won for the first time. The weather was beautiful today and the course was wonderful — I felt truly happy out there," she said. "My first goal this year was to win for the first time. Now that I've done that, I'm setting my sights on multiple wins. I'm going to go after the multiple-wins title."

After completing her champion's putt, Seo suffered a nosebleed — something she said was not unusual for her. "I get nosebleeds fairly often. After I made the last putt I was so overcome with tears, but I didn't want to make a sound, so I covered my nose — and then suddenly I had a nosebleed. I wasn't tired or worn out at all," she said.

With Seo's victory, all 11 KLPGA Tour events held this season have produced a different winner, underscoring a wide-open competitive landscape with no dominant force in sight.

Kim Min-sun7, who claimed her first win of the season at the Nexen Saint Nine Masters in April, appeared to fall out of contention after making three bogeys through the fourth hole. She rallied, however, birdieing six of the remaining holes to finish 3 under for the round and take the runner-up spot.

Park Hye-jun also made a strong run, recovering from a bogey on the first hole with four birdies over the rest of the round to post a 3-under 69. She finished at 13-under 203 for sole third place.

Kim Su-ji, who had shared the 54-hole lead alongside Seo and Kim Min-sun7, managed only three birdies against two bogeys for a 1-under round, finishing at 12-under 204 in sole fourth place.

Ko Ji-woo finished 1 under for the day to reach 11-under 205, tying for fifth with Kim Na-hyun2, who posted a 3-under round Sunday.


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