Kim Min-sun 7 cruises to a 4-stroke victory on a demanding course. (KLPGA)
Kim Min-sun 7 cruises to a 4-stroke victory on a demanding course. (KLPGA)

Kim Min-sun 7 claimed a 4-stroke victory at the KLPGA Tour's Hana Financial Group Championship, which carried a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.09 million).

Playing the final round Sunday at The Heaven Country Club in Daebudo, Ansan, Gyeonggi Province (par 72, 6,819 yards), Kim carded a 4-under-par 68 — five birdies against one bogey — to finish at 12-under 278 and pull clear of runner-up Jang Eun-su by four strokes. The win was Kim's second of the season, following her victory at the Nexen·Saint Nine Masters Tournament in April, and her third on tour overall. Her winner's check came to 270 million won.

Kim entered the final round holding a one-stroke lead but made a shaky start, dropping a bogey on the par-4 first hole to share the lead. She quickly steadied herself, however, draining a 12-meter birdie putt on the par-4 second hole to bounce back.

Kim then seized sole possession of the lead with back-to-back birdies on holes 7 and 8, and put the tournament out of reach with consecutive birdies on holes 11 and 12. Three of the four birdies across those holes came from within 2 meters, with only the 12th requiring a longer 7.8-meter conversion — a testament to her sharp iron play throughout the round.

The tournament presented an unusually stern test: the 6,819-yard layout featured fairways just 12 meters wide — roughly half the tour average — along with B-cut heavy rough measuring 85 to 100 millimeters, firm greens and a stiff sea breeze off the Yellow Sea, pushing the cut line as high as 5 over par.

Against those conditions, Kim compiled 14 birdies and just two bogeys over four rounds, cementing her reputation as one of the tour's premier players. Rather than attacking pins directly, she favored a conservative, center-of-the-green strategy — an approach that paid off in a field where world-class players including Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Minjee Lee of Australia missed the cut.

Jang Eun-su, who claimed her first KLPGA win last month at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters after 10 years as a professional, closed with a 1-under 71 — four birdies, three bogeys — to finish at 8-under 280 and take second place. Jang was tied for second with Lee Se-hee through the 17th hole but missed a 4-meter birdie putt on the par-5 18th, settling for the runner-up prize of 165 million won.

Lee Se-hee fired the day's best round, a 6-under 66, to finish at 7-under 281 and claim sole third place. After trading a birdie and bogey on the first two holes, Lee made six more birdies on the remaining holes to earn the third-place prize of 120 million won.

Yang Yun-seo, a national team member preparing for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, finished even par for the day — two birdies and two bogeys — to end at 6-under 282, sharing fourth place with Park Min-ji.

Invited player Iwai Chiji of Japan shot a 4-under 68 to finish at 5-under 283, tying for sixth with Hwang Yu-min, who dropped one stroke on the day. Iwai's twin sister, Iwai Akie, also of Japan, carded a 4-under round to finish at 4-under 284 in sole eighth place, with both sisters making the top 10.


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