Ko Ji-won (22, Samchunri), who attended elementary, middle and high school entirely in Jeju, captured a thrilling victory at the 2026 Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour domestic season opener. Ko, nicknamed the "Hallasan Bomber" after winning her first two career titles on her home island of Jeju, achieved her first "mainland victory" to bring her career total to three wins.
Ko shot a 1-over-par 73 with two birdies and three bogeys in the fourth round at The Siena Belluto Country Club (par 72) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on Saturday. She finished at 13-under-par 275, edging out Seo Gyo-rim (Samchunri) by one stroke at 12-under. It was a wire-to-wire victory, with Ko holding the lead from the first round. The winner's prize was 180 million won ($131,000).
With the margin staying at just one stroke until the closing holes, a hole-in-one she recorded on the 7th hole (par 3) during the third round the previous day proved decisive. That single shot, which shaved two strokes off her score, allowed her to enter the final round with a two-stroke lead and ultimately secure the one-stroke victory — her third career win delivered by that hole-in-one. Ko became the 10th player in KLPGA Tour history to win a tournament in which she recorded a hole-in-one.
Ko is a fourth-year professional who debuted on the KLPGA Tour in 2023. She won twice last year — at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in August and the S-OIL Championship in November — to accumulate her first two career victories. She also received the Most Improved Player award, voted on by golf journalists, at the 2025 KLPGA awards ceremony. Her older sister is Ko Ji-woo (24), also a three-time KLPGA Tour winner. Last year, the siblings set a KLPGA Tour record as the first pair of sisters to both win tournaments in the same season.
