"He's strong on land, too."' Go Ji-won won wire-to-wire in the opening match in Korea, and achieved 'three wins in Tongsan' [KLPGA]

*This content was translated by AI.

Ko Ji-won (22, Samchully) was listed at the top of the leaderboard at the opening game of the 2026 Korean LPGA Tour.

Ko Ji-won tied two birdies and three bogeys in the fourth round on the final day of the KLPGA Tour's The Ciena Open (total prize money of 1 billion won) held at The Ciena Beluto Country Club (par 72, 6,586 yards) in Yeoju-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 5th.

Ko Ji-won, who recorded a total of 13-under 275, beat Seo Kyo-rim (12-under 276) last year's Rookie of the Year award by one stroke to become the champion.

Ko Ji-won's third career victory, who joined in 2022 and won the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in August last year and the S-Oil Championship in November. He announced a good start to the season with 180 million won in prize money.

Ko Ji-won, who started 5 under par with a no-bogey play in the first round and ranked first alone, also reduced four shots in the second round to keep the top of the leaderboard. Ko Ji-won, who reduced five more pars, including a hole-in-one in the third round, started playing in the championship group with Seo Kyo-rim and others on the same day.

Ko Ji-won, who kept all the holes in the first half with par, birdied the 11th hole (par 5), but faced a crisis as she lost pars in succession in the 13th and 14th holes (par 4).

However, he made a birdie on the 16th hole (par 5), and even though his tee shot on the 17th hole (par 3) fell into a bunker and lost another shot, he kept a gap with the second place and finally lifted the trophy.

Ko Ji-won never gave up first place from the first round and won his 116th wire-to-wire victory on the KLPGA Tour.

It is also Ko Ji-won's first win outside Jeju Island, who won both championships in Jeju Island last year.

According to KLPGA, after the game, Ko Ji-won said, "Since I won twice in Jeju, many people told me to win on land, but it's more meaningful because I can achieve it at The Siena Beluto Country Club," adding, "I didn't have many good memories, especially when I was a rookie, but I set a course record at The Siena Jeju." It's not the same place, but I think it's more meaningful because it's more Siena," he said.

In particular, the accuracy of this tournament's iron shot was very excellent. "Except for today's round, the shot was really satisfactory until the third round," Go Ji-won said. "I was almost 100% satisfied. I was very nervous today, so I was disappointed, but overall, it was very good," he said, expressing satisfaction.

Ko Ji-won said, "I'm so happy to finish my debut in Korea with a good result of winning the championship. "I think it ended comfortably because it was my first win of the season, and I'm satisfied overall," he said, adding, "If I have to pick one, it's the Korean Women's Open." It is a competition that comes from the name itself and I really want to win once," he said.

Following Seo Hyo-rim, Yang Hyo-jin, a rookie on this year's tour, ranked third with 10-under 278, while Kim Seo-ah (Shin Sung-joong), a junior high school student amateur born in 2012, recorded 9-under 279, tied for fourth with Cho Ah-yeon.

Park Sung-hyun, who was invited to this tournament, tied for 13th with a 5-under 283. Defending champion Yoo Hyun-jo tied for 26th with a 2-under 286, and last year's prize money king Hong Jung-min tied for 53rd with a 4-over 292.

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*This content was translated by AI.