Kim Jae-hee wins KLPGA Hana Financial Group Open in Singapore

Kim claimed her first-ever title at the KLPGA's 2024 season opener, notching the memorable win on her 23rd birthday.

Kim Jae-hee, left, poses with the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open trophy alongside Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Lee Eun-hyung after winning the tournament at the Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore on Sunday. [KLPGA]

Kim Jae-hee won the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open at the Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore on Sunday, edging out a field of strong competitors to claim her first-ever KLPGA title and notch a memorable win on her birthday.

“I feel like I received a valuable birthday gift on my 23rd birthday," Kim said after the event.

Kim carded a bogey-free six-under-par, 66, in the last round for a final score of 17-under-par, 271, claiming victory and with it, a $198,000 prize, at the 2024 season’s opening tournament.

“This golf course has holes where you have to make chances for a birdie. I concentrated on those holes, and that actually led to a birdie, and I was able to play comfortably," Kim said. “This is the opening tournament, and it is my first event since I came back from winter training, I am happy because I feel like I got rewarded for training hard.”

Kim is the second golfer to win the tournament after defending champion Park Ji-young.

Kim competed fiercely alongside runner-up Bang Shin-sil, passing Bang by just one stroke.

Bang, who won two titles on the domestic tour last year, also shone in the last round, going bogey-free with five birdies.

Multiple winners from last season like Park Min-ji and Lee Ye-won also competed in the tournament, but amateur golfer Oh Soo-min outshone them in the field with a remarkable form.

Oh, 15, ended the third round as the lone golfer in first place and held onto the top spot for most of the fourth round until Kim Jae-hee snatched the lead on the 13th hole.

Despite making one birdie on the 15th hole, Oh failed to reclaim the No. 1 spot and slipped down to third place, finishing two strokes behind Kim.

Had Oh won the tournament, she would have been the first amateur golfer to win a KLGPA event since Choi Hye-jin in 2017.

The KLPGA's winningest golfer Park Min-ji, with 18 titles, managed a joint 12th-place finish with a 10-under-par, 278, while Lee Ye-won tied for 38th with a three-under-par, 285.

Defending champion Park Ji-young tied for 16th with a nine-under-par, 279.

LPGA golfer Patty Tavatanakit, who joined the tournament, organized by her main sponsor, on the back of two wins in recent events — at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International on the Ladies European Tour on Feb. 18 and the Honda LPGA Thailand a week later — also showed a strong performance, tying for fourth with a 13-under-par, 275.

With Kim claiming the victory on Sunday, the KLPGA kicked off its season with a first-time winner at its opening tournament, just like it did in 2023.

The first three events of the 2023 season saw just as many first-time champions, with Lee Ye-won becoming the first champion of the season at the Lotte Rent-a-Car Women’s Open, Lee Joo-mi winning the Mediheal-Hankook Ilbo Championship and Choi Eun-woo claiming victory at the Nexen Saint Nine Masters.

In addition to her first-ever KLPGA title and the biggest slice of the prize pool, Kim's Sunday victory also earned her 500 Wemix points.

The Wemix point system, introduced by Wemade and SBS Golf last year, is a system through which KLPGA golfers earn Wemix points on the Tour.

Following a change in the system this year, all golfers earn Wemix points in tandem with their standings at a tournament. The higher a golfer finishes, the more points she earns. Those who finish in the Top 10 earn additional points.

The top golfers on the season-long Wemix points ranking will compete at the Race to Wemix Championship, where cryptocurrency Wemix is given in lieu of prize money, after the regular 2024 season.

The KLPGA will continue with the Blue Canyon Ladies Championship teeing off in Thailand on Friday, before the Tour comes to Korea in April.

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