Yuri Yoshida won her first LPGA Tour title in South Korea after starting the final round four strokes behind. The Japanese golfer finished at 17 under par, one stroke ahead of Haeran Ryu and Hye-Jin Choi. A birdie at the penultimate hole gave Yoshida enough room to survive a bogey at the last.
Japan’s Yuri Yoshida won her first title on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour at Pine Beach Golf Links in Haenam, South Korea. She finished the BMW Ladies Championship at 17 under par, meaning that many strokes below the course’s standard total, with 271 strokes across four rounds. Haeran Ryu and Hye-Jin Choi shared second on 16 under, 272.[1], [2]
Yoshida, 26, started the final round four strokes behind. She played the par-five second hole two strokes below par, an eagle, then made three consecutive birdies, each one below par. She reached the turn in 31 strokes, five under. Later bogeys, one stroke above par, came at the 15th and 18th holes. A birdie at the 17th provided her winning cushion.[1]
Ryu began Sunday four strokes clear but returned a 73. After 15 consecutive pars, she bogeyed the 16th. Both she and Yoshida birdied the 17th and bogeyed the last. Choi made four birdies and one bogey in her final round and remained without a win in 125 LPGA starts. The previous week in Shanghai, she had finished one stroke behind Ruoning Yin.[1]
