Yoo Hae-ran wins KLPGA Hite Jinro Championship, her third major of the year
Version 2: More outlets have now reported the win, adding fuller final-round detail, the rest of the top of the leaderboard and Yoo Hae-ran’s post-round comments; the central facts of the result are unchanged.
In short
Yoo Hae-ran won the 26th Hite Jinro Championship at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju on 4 October, closing with a 3-under 69 for a 4-under-par total of 284 and a four-stroke win over Kim Min-sol and Kim Min-ju. It was the world No. 3’s first KLPGA Tour major and her sixth KLPGA title, after two LPGA majors this season. Runner-up Kim Min-sol set a new single-season KLPGA prize money record of about 1.53 billion won.
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Yoo Hae-ran won the 26th Hite Jinro Championship, the KLPGA Tour’s final major of the season, at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on 4 October, Yonhap reported. The world No. 3 closed with a round of four birdies and one bogey for 3-under 69 and a 4-under-par total of 284, finishing four strokes clear of Kim Min-sol and Kim Min-ju, who tied for second at even-par 288. The tournament carried a total purse of 1.5 billion won. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
It was Yoo’s first KLPGA Tour major title and her sixth win on the tour, according to Yonhap and Hankook Ilbo, with her previous KLPGA victory coming at the 2022 Nexen Saint Nine Masters, four years and five months earlier. She took 270 million won in prize money and was competing in Korea for the first time in two years and two months, since the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in August 2024. Having already won the LPGA’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Amundi Evian Championship this season, all three of her wins this year were majors; Hankook Ilbo described this as evidence of her strength in the biggest events. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
Yoo began the final round with a one-stroke lead and birdied the 4th, 6th and 10th holes to move three strokes ahead of the chasing group, Yonhap reported. Her only bogey of the day came at the 14th, where she three-putted. Seo Eo-jin birdied the 14th to cut the gap to one stroke, but on the 15th her tee shot went wide left of the fairway and lodged in a tree branch; the ball was declared unplayable with a penalty stroke and she took a double bogey, finishing tied for fifth at 2-over 290. Yoo answered with a birdie at the 180-yard par-3 16th, then parred the 18th after her tee shot found a fairway bunker, and was doused with water by fellow players, Hankook Ilbo reported. [ 2 , 7 ]
Kim Min-sol’s joint runner-up finish added 142.5 million won to her season earnings, taking her cumulative prize money to about 1.53 billion won, a new record for a single KLPGA Tour season, according to Yonhap and Hankook Ilbo. Asia Economy listed Lee Ji-hyun as fourth at 1-over 289, with Lee Da-yeon, Choi Ye-bon, Kim Seo-jung and Seo Eo-jin tied for fifth at 2-over 290. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
Yoo said afterwards, according to Yonhap, that when she played the Hite Jinro Championship seven years ago she had wondered how she would drink the liquor if she won, and that this time it felt as if a weight had cleared. The remarks were published in headline and short quoted form. [ 8 ]
Hankook Ilbo reported that Yoo, 25, who plays for Daol Financial Group, was the only player to finish the tournament under par on a demanding course, and gave the ages and sponsors of her closest challengers: Kim Min-sol, 20, of Doosan Construction, and Kim Min-ju, 24, of Samchully. [ 7 ]
Why it matters
The result gives Yoo Hae-ran a domestic major to go with the two LPGA majors she won this season, a combination the Korean outlets present as rare for a player ranked third in the world. Kim Min-sol’s runner-up finish rewrote the KLPGA Tour’s single-season prize money record, which will stand for the rest of the year. Interest outside Korea rests mainly on Yoo’s standing on the US tour rather than on the domestic event itself.
Key facts
- Yoo Hae-ran won the 26th Hite Jinro Championship, the KLPGA Tour’s last major of the season, at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on 4 October. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- She finished at 4-under-par 284 after a final round of 69 with four birdies and one bogey, four strokes ahead of Kim Min-sol and Kim Min-ju, who tied for second at even-par 288. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- It was her first KLPGA Tour major title and her sixth win on the KLPGA Tour; her previous KLPGA victory came at the 2022 Nexen Saint Nine Masters, four years and five months earlier. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- She received 270 million won from a total purse of 1.5 billion won. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- All three of her wins this season — the LPGA’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Amundi Evian Championship and now the KLPGA’s Hite Jinro Championship — were majors. [ 2 , 6 , 7 , 10 ]
- Kim Min-sol’s joint runner-up finish added 142.5 million won, taking her season earnings to about 1.53 billion won, a new single-season record on the KLPGA Tour. [ 2 , 6 , 7 , 10 ]
- Yoo was playing in Korea for the first time in two years and two months, since the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in August 2024. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Yoo Hae-ran won the KLPGA Tour’s Hite Jinro Championship at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on 4 October. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- She finished at 4-under-par 284, four strokes ahead of Kim Min-sol and Kim Min-ju, who tied for second at even-par 288. [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- The win was her first KLPGA Tour major title and her sixth career win on the KLPGA Tour. [ 2 , 6 , 7 , 10 ]
- Her three wins this season, two on the LPGA Tour and one on the KLPGA Tour, were all majors. [ 2 , 6 , 7 , 10 ]
- Kim Min-sol’s joint runner-up finish raised her season earnings to about 1.53 billion won, a new single-season KLPGA Tour record. [ 2 , 6 , 7 , 10 ]
Still unclear
- Yonhap’s final standings for the tournament are not included in the documents. Document 3 carries only the line identifying it as the final standings, with no placings shown.
- Newsis gives no golf detail beyond its headline. The article text attached to document 4 is about an unrelated financial-sector hacking story, so only the headline relates to this event.
- Korea Economic Daily gives no golf detail beyond its headline. The article text attached to document 11 consists of unrelated items about the Asian Games, the World Golf Hall of Fame and an LPGA result, so only the headline relates to this event.
- Yoo Hae-ran’s comments after the round are available only in short quoted form. Document 8 is a headline and a single quoted line, with no full article text.
- Kukmin Ilbo’s report is timestamped 07:27 local time, before Yonhap’s account of the final round at 16:08. The documents do not explain the timing discrepancy.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Kukmin Ilbo reported that Yoo Hae-ran had won the Hite Jinro Championship, calling it her first domestic major crown. [ 1 ]
- Yonhap reported the win in full, with a 4-under-par 284 total and a four-stroke margin. [ 2 ]
- Yonhap published the tournament’s final standings. [ 3 ]
- Newsis headlined the win as a domestic major following her LPGA success. [ 4 ]
- Seoul Shinmun reported it as her third major title of the year, after two on the LPGA Tour. [ 5 ]
- Asia Economy reported the result with the top of the final leaderboard. [ 6 ]
- Hankook Ilbo reported the round in detail, including the closing holes and the water dousing after the win. [ 7 ]
- Yonhap carried Yoo Hae-ran’s comments about the Hite Jinro Championship she played seven years earlier. [ 8 ]
- Seoul Shinmun reported that she had taken her first KLPGA major and a third crown of the year across Korea and the US. [ 9 ]
- Chosun Ilbo reported the win and Kim Min-sol’s new single-season prize money record. [ 10 ]
- Korea Economic Daily headlined the win as her sixth KLPGA Tour title. [ 11 ]