Sponsor invitee Sung Yu-jin finishes second at LPGA Lotte Championship

Sponsor invitee Sung Yu-jin nearly stunned the field to win her first LPGA title on Saturday, finishing second after a playoff in the LPGA Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club in Hawaii.

Sung Yu-jin reacts after a chip shot on the 18th hole during the final round of the Lotte Championship presented by Hoakalei at Hoakalei Country Club on Saturday in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. [GETTY IMAGES/YONHAP]

Sponsor invitee Sung Yu-jin nearly stunned the field to win her first LPGA title on Saturday, finishing second after a playoff in the LPGA Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club in Hawaii.

The 22-year-old Korean golfer managed 12-under-par, 276, to tie with Grace Kim of Australia and Yu Liu of China.

The playoff on the par-5 18th took place following the fourth round and Sung made a bogey, while Liu had a par and Grace Kim managed a birdie to win her first ever LPGA title.

Sung competed in the Lotte Championship as a sponsor invitee after winning the Lotte Open on the KLPGA Tour last year. She pulled off an outstanding performance at the event, as she was the frontrunner in the second and third round, before falling back to tie with Liu and Kim at the end of the fourth.

Kim Hyo-joo — the highest-ranked Korean golfer in the competition at ninth on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings — on the other hand, not only failed to defend her title, but displayed her worst performance of the season, tying for 48th place with one-over-par, 289.

Hwang You-min, who tied for ninth, managed the second-highest finish by a Korean golfer with eight-under-par, 280.

Meanwhile, world No. 11 Chun In-gee — the second highest-ranked Korean golfer in the event — did not make the cut, despite the absence of some prominent competitors who opted to skip the event.

World No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, No. 2 Nelly Korda of the United States, No. 3 Ko Jin-young of Korea, No. 4 Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand, No. 5 of Minjee Lee of Australia and No. 6 Lexi Thompson of the United States did not compete in the Hawaii swing ahead of the Chevron Championship — the bigger event scheduled in a week.

The Chevron Championship tees off at the Club at Carlton Woods in the Woodlands, Texas on Thursday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]