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40-year-old Park Sang-hyun beats Lim Sung-jae to become the first player to win 5 billion in prize money

17 october 2023

40-year-old Park Sang-hyun beats Lim Sung-jae to become the first player to win 5 billion in prize money

12 career Genesis Championship wins
"Offensive Shot in 2nd Overtime"
19-year-old rookie Bang Shin-sil, in 5 months
KLPGA season 2 wins "Expecting multiple wins"

Park Sang-hyun poses for the cameras with the winner's trophy after finishing atop the Korean Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Genesis Championship on Friday. 

Park Sang-hyun, 40, has become the first player in the history of the Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour to surpass 5 billion won in career earnings. He reached the milestone after 199 tournaments since making his tour debut in 2005.

Park shot a 4-under 68 with seven birdies and three bogeys in the final four rounds of the KPGA Korean Tour Genesis Championship at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club (Par 72) in Incheon on Friday. With a final total of 17-under-par 271, Park finished in a playoff with Im Sung-jae (25) and Bae Yong-joon (23), who shot identical scores, to claim the top prize of 300 million won. It was his first victory in a year and a half since the DB Insurance Promi Open in April and the 12th of his tour career. Park increased her career earnings to 5,048.6 million won, making her the first player on the Korean Tour to surpass 5 billion won in prize money. Previously, Jang Ha-na (5,765.3 million won) and Park Min-ji (5,648.1 million won) surpassed the 5 billion won mark on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour.

In the first overtime match of the day, Im Sung-jae was the first to go. Park eagled the 18th hole (par-5) in the second overtime to end a long battle. Bae Yong-jun could only manage a par in the second overtime. Park said, "I hit more long irons than anyone else in this tournament. I had a good feel for it, so when I saw the right side of the pin in the second overtime, I took an aggressive shot and was lucky enough to get it up and over the green for eagle," said Park.

Park entered the final round in a tie for third place, three strokes behind leader Im Sung-jae after three rounds. On holes 1-3 of the final round, Park reeled off three straight birdies to drop three strokes. The two players were tied for the lead as Lim Sung-jae was unable to reduce his score until the third hole. "After winning last year, I was nervous that I couldn't add to my victory total, but I'm happy to have won this time," said Park after the tournament. "It was very windy at the beginning of today's match, and I saw that Lim couldn't hit well, so I thought my chance would come someday."

The Genesis Championship is the tournament with the largest prize fund (KRW 1.5 billion) on the KPGA Korean Tour. "If there are no injuries, I think I can compete for the title with younger players until my mid-40s," said Park. "With this win, I have the opportunity to win the Genesis Grand Prize and the money list at the same time. I want to focus on the domestic stage and win both titles." With his victory, Park jumped from 10th to 2nd in the prize money standings and 13th to 4th in the Genesis Grand Prize points standings.

Bang Shin-sil (right) celebrates after winning the Dongbu Construction-Korea Land Trust Championship on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour on Friday. 

Rookie Bang Shin-sil (19) won the Korea Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour's Dongbu E&C-Korea Land Trust Championship at Iksan Country Club (Par 72) in Jeonbuk on Friday. The tournament was played on a modified Stableford format that awarded 8 points for an albatross, 5 points for an eagle, 2 points for a birdie, -1 point for a bogey, and -3 points for a double bogey or worse. Bangshinsil lifted the trophy with a final total of 43 points. Bang, who started the season as a conditional seed, earned a full seed after winning the E1 Charity Open in May, and it took him just five months to add another victory to his resume. "I was in good shape after my first win, so I had high hopes for multiple wins," said Bang.

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