With four holes to play and trailing by three, defeat looked certain. But Bang Shin-sil, 22, of KB Financial Group, stayed composed. She ignited a comeback with a dramatic 7.5-meter birdie on the par-4 15th hole, then took the par-4 17th and par-5 18th in succession to force the match into extra holes. On the par-5 18th in the playoff, her signature long drive followed by a steady finish secured a par and the win, crowning her "match queen."
Bang defeated Choi Eun-woo, 31, of Amano Korea, on the first playoff hole in the final of the Doosan Match Play (total prize money of 1 billion won), the only match play event on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour, held Saturday at Ladena GC (par 72) in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. The victory marked her first win of the season and the sixth of her career, along with her first career match queen title. The winner's prize was 250 million won. It was her first win in eight months, since the OK Savings Bank Eat Man Open last September.
Bang, who debuted in 2023, won twice that year and added three victories last year to share the title of most wins. This season, before this event, she had played in six tournaments with three top-10 finishes but no win. However, she built momentum at the previous event, the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship, where she tied for fourth, her best result of the season. In the match play, she swept her group stage matches and rode a streak of seven straight wins through Saturday's final to reach the top.
Saturday's match was a continuous back-and-forth, tightly contested battle. Bang seized the early advantage with a birdie on the par-4 first hole, but Choi responded with a birdie on the par-3 third. On the back nine, Bang's shots wavered and Choi began to pull ahead. Bang made consecutive bogeys on the par-4 11th, where she sent her tee shot into the left rough, and the par-5 12th, where she dropped her second shot into a penalty area, falling two holes behind. On the par-4 14th, Choi made a birdie to extend the lead to three holes, appearing to take command.
But Bang never gave up and set the stage for a comeback drama. After her birdie on the 15th, she held par on the 17th and 18th to draw level with Choi, who carded bogeys, sending the match into a playoff. In the playoff on the 18th hole, Bang put her third shot on the edge of the green and comfortably saved par, while Choi's fourth shot from the fringe landed at an awkward distance and she failed to save par. Choi, a veteran who debuted on the tour in 2015 and has two career wins, faltered in several situations where she could have closed out the match, ultimately conceding the victory.
After the match, Bang shared her thoughts: "When I was down by three holes, I had hope that I could turn it around, but I almost let go and went in with the mindset of leaving the result to the heavens." She added, "I'm grateful to have achieved the first win of the season that I desperately wanted. I will continue to work harder and do my best to achieve my goal of multiple wins."
In the third-place playoff between Park Gyeol and Hong Jin-young, who lost in the semifinals to Choi and Bang respectively, Hong came out on top. After a close match that went the full 18 holes, Hong defeated Park by one hole.
