Song Ga-eun poses with the winner's trophy. [Photo=KLPGA]
Song Ga-eun poses with the winner's trophy. [Photo=KLPGA]

Song Ga-eun won the KLPGA 2026 Gunsan CC Dream Tour Event 19, which carried a purse of 70 million won, after a seven-hole playoff Tuesday.

Playing the final round at Gunsan Country Club's Buan-Namwon course (par 72, 6,510 yards) in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Song carded a bogey-free 63 with nine birdies to finish 9-under for the day. Her two-round total of 11-under 133 left her tied with Jeong Ju-ri and Gil Ye-ram, forcing a playoff.

The sudden-death playoff was held at the 18th hole (par 4), and officials moved the pin position three times without a winner emerging. In the seventh extra hole, Gil made a bogey and Jeong settled for par, while Song drained a dramatic birdie to end the marathon contest.

"Thanks to my putting today, I won, and I'm truly happy," Song said. She added: "Honestly, losing my tour card last year was really hard. The sense of loss was great and I was heartbroken. I decided to start over from scratch and have been trying to play happy golf this season — so winning now means a great deal to me."

Song joined the KLPGA as an associate member in 2019 and earned full membership that June after winning the KLPGA 2019 Grand Samdaein Jump Tour events 5 and 7. She then finished 28th at the 2020 KLPGA regular-tour qualifying finals, beginning a stretch in which she competed on both the Dream Tour and the regular tour.

In 2021, Song claimed her first KLPGA regular-tour title at the Hana Financial Group Championship, edging out Hong Jeong-min to win the tour's Rookie of the Year award. She added a second regular-tour win at the Daebo Housed Open in 2022.

At the end of 2023, Song topped the qualifying school for the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association tour and competed on both the JLPGA and KLPGA circuits in 2024, but finished 86th on the KLPGA money list and lost her card. She entered 2025 ranked 39th in the seeding standings and again split her schedule between the two tours, but slipped to 101st on the money list and lost her card a second time, leaving her to compete exclusively on the Dream Tour this season.

Jeong Yeong-hwa, who had been sole second after the first round, finished fourth at 10-under 134. First-round leader Choi I-su and Seong A-jin, who has two wins this season, shared fifth place at 9-under 135.

The victory earned Song 10.5 million won ($7,590), lifting her season earnings to 23.68 million won and moving her up the money list from 35th to 18th — bringing her a step closer to securing a regular-tour card for next year.

The final round, hosted by Gunsan Country Club and organized by the KLPGA, will be broadcast on a tape-delay basis on SBS Golf starting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 7.


sports@heraldcorp.com