Ko Jin-young wins Evian Championship

The Evian Championship, the fourth tournament of the 2019 season with an overall prize purse of 4.1 million U.S. dollars, came to an end Monday at the par-71 Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France.

It seems the era of “Ko Jin-young," who won the 2019 Bank of Hope Founders Cup and 2019 ANA Inspiration this season, has come. At the championship in France, Ko won her second major title of the season, picking up five birdies and a bogey under inclement conditions and a delayed schedule.

Ko was in the final group with fellow South Korean star players Kim Hyo-joo and Park Sung-hyun, and their competition drew attention as they were all considered to be the strongest contenders. Park shot two bogeys on the first and second hole, and lost control of the tournament with a double bogey at the par-4 11th. She finished tied for sixth at 10 under. Kim Hyo-joo was also unlucky. Starting the final round with four strokes ahead of Ko, Kim tumbled down the leaderboard when she faltered with a triple bogey at the par-3 14th after a tee shot plugged beneath a bunker. Kim tied for second at 13 under. In the meantime, Ko managed to make a four-meter birdie putt at the par-4 17th, and it almost sealed her win.

At the awards ceremony, a skydiver dropped to the ground bringing the Korean national flag. Ko apparently became emotional, saying that she tried not to cry but could not hold it when she saw the national flag coming down from the sky and heard the national anthem played.

The latest victory will push Ko back to No. 1 in the world rankings. She will also lead in the prize (1.98 million dollars), the Player of the Year points (189), and the average number of strokes (69.10) races of the LPGA. No South Korean has swept the three titles yet.

Ko’s next destination will be England, where she will play at the fifth and final major of the year, the Women’s British Open, to clinch a third major title of the season, which would make her the first South Korean to do so since Park In-bee achieved the feat in 2015.


ysahn@donga.com