“Seeing my sister win sparked my passion”
Sisters Ko Ji Woo and Ko Ji-won are from Jeju Island and play side by side on the KLPGA Tour. They dream of reaching the top together, like sisters Jessica Koda and Nelly Koda on the LPGA Tour.
The elder sister, Ko Ji-won, was the first to break through. Ko Ji-won enjoyed the thrill of her first win on the KLPGA Tour when she topped the McCall-Mona Yongpyong Open on Feb. 2.
Spurred on by her older sister’s victory, Ko Ji-won seized the opportunity to take over the top spot on the first day of the KLPGA Tour’s EverCollagen-The Siena Queen’s Crown in Jeju.메이저놀이터
Ko Ji-won shot an 8-under 64 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the KLPGA Tour’s EverCollagen-The Siena Queen’s Crown at The Siena CC (Par 72) in Jeju on Wednesday.
Last year, Ko Ji-won was a rookie who made the jump from the KLPGA Jump Tour and Dream Tour to the regular tour this year. Her best finish this season was an 11th place finish at the E1 Charity Open in May.
Her last three tournaments have been poor, with back-to-back missed cuts. However, Ko turned things around at the tournament in her hometown of Jeju, South Korea, where she posted what she called her “best score of her life.
“My shots have been good lately, but my putts haven’t been cooperating,” Ko said after the match, adding, “I practiced a lot of putting yesterday under the sun, and it paid off today.”
“I also took a putt one point lesson last week and it helped,” she said, explaining, “My putt stroke was said to be a dipping style, so it was good to have more flexibility in my wrist.” In fact, over the course of 18 holes, Ko made 26 putts on the day. That was four fewer than her season average of 30.84.
The victories of her older sister Ko and fellow KLPGA Tour debutants also spurred her on. “I always wanted to win,” Ko said, “but seeing my sister do it made me want to do it quickly. My passion was ignited,” she said. “As much as my sister’s victory, I was also inspired by the performance of other rookie friends,” she said.
Bang Shin-sil and Hwang Yoo-min, who debuted on the KLPGA Tour alongside Ko, enjoyed the thrill of their first victories. Kim hasn’t won a tournament, but she has six top-10 finishes, including two runner-up finishes, and sits seventh on the money list and second in points.
Ko said, “Hwang Yoo-min, Kim Min-byul, and Bang Shin-sil are all friends who have played well since childhood and are close to me. I hope I can join them and become one of the rookie ‘big four,'” she said, adding, “I’ll work hard in the second half of the season and give it a try.”
As for her strategy for the remaining rounds, Ko Ji-won said, “There are still three days left. Every day is so different in golf, so I’m not going to think about being in the lead,” she said, “I’m going to play the rest of the round as usual.”