'Career 20-win milestone' Park Min-ji wins MBN Women's Open, "My next goal is..."

*This content was translated by AI.

Park Min-ji (28, NH Investment & Securities) has etched her name in KLPGA Tour history with a monumental achievement.

On the 31st, at the D-Star Golf & Resort in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, Park shot an 8-under-par 64 in the final third round of the KLPGA Tour Sh Hwagyeo Bank MBN Women's Open (total prize money 1 billion won), recording eight birdies without a single bogey.

Finishing with a total of 10-under-par 206, Park Min-ji overtook second-place Kim Ji-yoon by one stroke to claim a thrilling comeback victory.

With this win, Park became only the third player in KLPGA Tour history to reach 20 career victories. This historic milestone follows the late Koo Ok-hee and Shin Ji-ae, marking the first time in 16 years since Shin Ji-ae achieved 20 wins in 2010.

After winning the 2024 Celltrion Queens Masters, Park climbed to the top of the leaderboard in her 47th tournament, pushing her career earnings past 6.8 billion won. This victory moved Park from 39th to 12th in this season's prize money rankings, while her award points surged from 29th to 8th.

According to the KLPGA, in an interview immediately after the win, Park said, "Honestly, I still can't believe I've reached 20 wins. I played without even thinking about the win, so ironically, I'm so grateful that 20 wins came to me."

Regarding her prepared remarks, Park added, "I used to imagine my acceptance speech while practicing alone, laughing and playing by myself, but now that I've won, I can't remember it clearly. What's clear is that this win wasn't achieved by me alone, but thanks to the many people who believed in me and supported me until the end. Honestly, when I reflected on myself last year, I was lazy in practice and didn't give my all. People around me were worried, but the truth was, it wasn't pain—it was a lack of effort. I wanted to repay their support this year, so I prepared intensely."

She also opened up about the memory of struggling after accumulating wins every year since her debut in 2017, finally finishing a winless season in 2025. Park said, "Only after the season ended and I couldn't attend the award ceremony did I truly realize it. I thought, 'I didn't give my all to myself, so this is the result I'm facing.' She also confessed, "Even at the start of this season, the slump continued. While playing, I felt a fear for the first time: 'What if I lose my seed for next year and have to go through the seed ranking tournament?'"

On her new goals for the remaining 2026 season, Park said, "My goal is simple: to keep adding more wins." She added, "In the past, I thought that reaching 20 wins would mark the complete end of a major chapter in my golf career. But since I achieved 20 wins sooner than expected, I think it's time to set new goals."

Continuing, Park stated, "I want to be a wonderful senior and player who can be an inspiration and offer help to my juniors. I will think more deeply about what role I can contribute. Of course, as a tour player, I want to keep adding more championship trophies in the future."

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*This content was translated by AI.