Choi Hye-jin finishes tied for third at the LPGA Mizuho Americas Open; Teerapat "Tee Tikun" wins back-to-back titles for second victory of the season

*This content was translated by AI.

Choi Hye-jin (27, Lotte) finished tied for third at the LPGA Mizuho Americas Open (total purse $3.25 million).

On the 11th (Korean time), Choi carded a 1-under-par 71 with three birdies and two bogeys in the final fourth round at West Goldwell Mountain Ridge Country Club (par 72) in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.

Finishing with a total of 8-under-par 280, Choi Hye-jin tied for third alongside Allyson Lee, Jennie Bae (both USA), and Gabi Lopez (Mexico).

Once again, she fell just short of the championship. Having competed in 133 LPGA Tour events, Choi has secured runner-up finishes three times, earning the moniker "king without a crown," and left behind another sense of regret this time.

After finishing in the top 10 at the Blue Bay LPGA in March, Choi achieved another top-10 finish this season for the third time, raising expectations for upcoming tournaments.

Starting in solo third place, three shots behind leader Teerapat "Tee Tikun" (Thailand), Choi was unable to easily close the gap on the final round.

She birdied the 4th hole (par 3) and the 6th hole (par 5), but lost strokes at the 7th hole (par 3) and the 9th hole (par 4). Although she added another birdie on the 11th hole (par 4), she could not reduce her score further and finished the tournament.

The tournament title went to world No. 2 Teerapat "Tee Tikun." Tikun lowered his score by three strokes on the day alone, defending his title with a final total of 13-under-par 275. The winning prize money amounts to $487,500 (approximately 716 million won).

With this victory, his second of the season following the Honda Thailand in February, Tikun joins Hyo-joo Kim, Hannah Green (Australia), and Nelly Korda (USA, three wins) as a multiple-winner this season.

Shin Ji-eun (34) also stood out. She recorded four birdies and three bogeys to finish at 1-under-par, ending with a total of 6-under-par 282 and tying for seventh place. This marked her first top-10 finish of the season in her seventh tournament of the year.

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*This content was translated by AI.