Yoo Hye-ri does it again! Wins Evian Championship, achieves back-to-back major victories

*This content was translated by AI.

Yoo Hye-ri (25, Daol Financial Group) has achieved back-to-back victories in LPGA Tour majors.

On Tuesday (Korea time), Yoo Hye-ri shot a 71-under-par round with one birdie and one bogey in the final fourth round of the AWD Evian Championship on the LPGA Tour, held at Évian Resort Golf Club (par 71) in Évian-les-Bains, France.

Finishing with a total of 19-under-par 265 strokes, Yoo Hye-ri tied for first place with Brooke Henderson of Canada before defeating Henderson, who made par after birding on the first extra hole, to claim the title. The winning prize was $1.4 million (approximately 1.2 billion won).

With this victory, Yoo Hye-ri has added another milestone to her record by securing back-to-back major titles following her earlier win at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. This marks the first time since Go Jin-young's victories at the ANA Inspiration and Evian Championship in 2019 that a Korean player has won two consecutive LPGA Tour events — a seven-year gap.

Immediately after winning, Yoo Hye-ri said, "It feels like a dream. Just three weeks ago, I didn't have a single major championship trophy. Now I have two. I'm so happy and can't believe what's happening." She added, "I'm truly delighted to have secured birdies on the final two holes."

Yoo Hye-ri will now aim for a third consecutive major title at the AIG Women's Open, the fifth and final major of the season, scheduled to take place later this month.

Starting the final round as sole leader after the third day, Yoo Hye-ri struggled to secure birdies and recorded her first bogey on the eighth hole (par 3). Meanwhile, Henderson aggressively pursued her, achieving an eagle on the seventh hole (par 5) and a hole-in-one on the eighth.

Henderson then sank an eagle putt on the 18th hole (par 5), while Yoo Hye-ri recorded her first birdie of the day on the same hole, sending the match into extra holes. In the playoff at the 18th hole, Yoo Hye-ri once again secured a birdie, whereas Henderson faltered with a tee shot that landed in the rough, resulting in contrasting fortunes.

Following Yoo Hye-ri and Henderson, Japan's Aki Iwai finished in third place with a total of 18-under-par 266 strokes. Im Jin-hee carded 15-under-par 269 strokes, tying for fourth alongside Japan's Miu Yamashita and Mao Saito. Lee So-mi also reached the top 10 with an 11-under-par 273 stroke total, bringing the number of Korean players in the top 10 to three for this tournament.

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*This content was translated by AI.