Eun-Hee Ji posted a final-round 7-under 65 at Miramar Golf Country Club to capture the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship by six strokes over Lydia Ko.
The win was the third of the 31-year old South Korean’s career, and first since the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open.
“I’m so happy and excited because I haven’t won for the past eight years,” said Ji. “So I was waiting for this moment for so long, so I’m super happy right now.”
Ji, who held the lead after each of the first three rounds, finished at 17-under 271.
“It is a nice day for playing golf today, and I have a really good group with Lydia and Jenny, so I was more relaxed with them and enjoyed playing with them,” said Ji. “Yeah, it’s been great.”
New Zealand’s Ko finished runner-up after carding a bogey-free 7-under 65 on Sunday to get to 11 under for the tournament.
“I’ll still take a birdie on the finishing hole,” said Ko. “When I was on 17 tee I said I want to finish with two birdies, and I was able to do that. I played really solid today. I had a few pars; I guess 12 footers for par on my front nine that I was able to hole and make a bunch of birdies. I’ll take my 65.”
Ko cited the improved weather conditions for her performance on Sunday.
“I think we were all worried about the weather at one stage, and even coming off yesterday to 54 holes, we were like, “Oh, thank God.” We knew that the weather was going to be pretty decent today, and I think it was even better than the forecast,” said Ko.
A logjam of five players tied for third at 7-under 281, headlined by world No. 1 So Yeun Ryu.
FINAL TOP 10: SWINGING SKIRTS TAIWAN CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Eun-Hee Ji -17
2 Lydia Ko -11
3 So Yeon Ryu -7
3 Lizette Salas -7
3 Shanshan Feng -7
3 Madelene Sagstrom -7
3 Carlota Ciganda -7
8 Cristie Kerr -6
9 Jacqui Concolino -5
10 Wei Ling Hsu -4
10 Brittany Lang -4
10 Angel Yin -4
10 Brittany Altomare -4
EUN-HEE JI’S FINAL-ROUND SCORECARD
QUOTABLE: EUN-HEE JI
“I mean, I’m trying all the time, and I tried to make another win, quite a long time to make another win. But I was trying pretty hard.”
Credit: LPGA Communications, Getty Images
