Alison Lee narrowly loses her first LPGA Tour win

Alison Lee, 21, could have won her first championship if she had had a par on the 18th hole (par 5). Unfortunately, she blew away the chance to win the long-awaited trophy after sinking a putt on the 18th hole in the pond on her right side.

Alison Lee lost three strokes after leading the tournament by three strokes in the fourth round of the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship at Sky 72 Golf Club's Ocean Course (par 72) in Incheon on Sunday. She was tied with Carlota Ciganda of Spain with 10-under 278 and lost in the playoff hole, failing to grasp the first win in 45 tournaments since her debut at LPGA last year.

Ciganda who succeeded a three-meter birdie putt on the 18th hole claimed her first championship in 92 tournaments since her debut in 2012. The prize money is 300,000 U.S. dollars.

Alison Lee, whose Korean name is Lee Hwa-hyeon, was the most popular golfer in this tournament, attracting thousands golf fans. Her parents and grandmother are Korean but her grandfather is Irish. With the mixed beauty of the East and the West, she was selected as the most beautiful golfer by Golf.com last year. She is attending UCLA and majoring in political sociology. She will skip three tournaments to attend classes.

Among Korean golfers, Kim Min-sun (8-under) had the best record ending in the third place. Park Sung-hyun and Jeon In-ji ended the tournament in the 13th place (4-under par).

인천=김종석기자 kjs0123@donga.com