At the 77th US Women's Open Golf Tournament, the second major event of the season, Lee Min-ji, a Korean-Australian, took the top spot.



Lee Min-ji hit an even-par 71 with four birdies and four bogeys in the fourth round on the final day of the tournament held at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, USA.



With a final total of 13 under-par 271, Lee Min-ji beat second-placed US Mina Harigae (9 under-par 275) by four strokes.



The 271 shot is one stroke ahead of the previous record for the lowest hitting 72 holes in the US Women's Open (272 shots).



Previous records include Annika Sorenstam (Sweden), who won the course in 1996, Julie Inkster (USA) in 1999, and Inji Jeon (28) in 2015 who hit 272.



With this, Lee Min-ji took her second major win in her personal career following the Evian Championship in July of last year.



It was the eighth win on the LPGA Tour in the US following the Founders Cup last month.



In particular, the upward trend of winning two of the last four major tournaments is remarkable.



Lee Min-ji, who received the prize money of 1.8 million dollars (about 2.25 billion won) for winning this competition, rose to first place (2625,849 dollars) at once.



The $1.8 million is the most in women's golf history for a single event.



In addition to her prize money, Lee Min-ji took first place in all major categories such as average at-bats, Player of the Year, and CME Globe Points, building her solo system.



As for our player, Hyejin Choi finished third with a final total of 7-under 277.



Jinyoung Ko, the world's No. 1 player, finished the tournament in solo 4th with a 6-under 278 shot.



The Korean players haven't won their seventh consecutive major in the recent majors since Kim A-rim, who became the champion at this event in 2020.



It is the first time in 11 years that Korean players have not won seven consecutive major tournaments after seven consecutive tournaments from the British Open in 2009 to the LPGA Championship in 2011.



In the next major event, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at the end of this month, if a foreign player wins, it will become a 'major military officer' for eight consecutive tournaments for the first time in 14 years from 2006 to 2008.



Lee Min-ji, who was the sole lead by three strokes until the third round, lost two at-bats with just two bogeys until Harigae, who was second in the third round, caught the first birdie on the 15th hole (par 5) to win the championship with a relatively comfortable margin.



She escaped by 5 strokes with a birdie on the 1st and 2nd holes, and then faltered by losing one shot on the 5th and 7th holes, but with a birdie on the 12th (par 4) widened the gap to 2nd by 6 strokes and foreshadowed the win.



Although there was a possibility that it could surpass Inkster's 16-under in 1999, which is the record for the most under-par wins in the history of this tournament, a short par putt on the 16th hole (par 3) hit the hole, and also lost one stroke on the 18th hole (par 4) 13 The contest ended with an under par.



This year's U.S. Women's Open 1-5 places were swept by Asian players.



The winners Lee Min-ji and 5th place Lydia Ko (New Zealand) were Korean players, while Choi Hye-jin and Ko Jin-young placed 3rd and 4th place.



Runner-up Harigado is Japanese-American with Japanese parents.



(Photo = Getty Images Korea)