Yang Hee-young garners ‘birdies at 9 consecutive holes’ to tie LPGA record

If she had more holes to play, she might have won the title. Yang Hee-young, 26, displayed so amazing advance at the final minutes of the tournament. She even said, “I felt shivering.”

In the final round of the LPGA Tour’s KEB Hana Bank Championship that finished at Ocean Course (par 72) at Sky 72 Golf Club in Incheon on Sunday, Yang garnered birdies at nine consecutive holes from Holes 10 to 18 and tied the record set Beth Daniel at the 1999 Philips Invitational. In the PGA tour, Mark Calcavecchia set this record in 2009. In the Korean LPGA, the record in this category is birdies played at eight consecutive holes, which was set by Cho Yoon-ji at the E1 Charity Open in May this year.

After tying for 31st when she started the final round, Yang finished tied for fourth overall with 13-under 275, tying the course record with a 10-under-par 62. Having broken her own record (6 holes) of birdies played at consecutive holes, “I started performing well with my iron shots at the final holes, and was able to bring the ball to near the pin,” Yang said. “It is an honor for me to set a milestone in the history of LPGA.”

After finishing the match about three hours earlier before the champion’s group, Yang said, “I will prepare for a playoff by practicing,” but she regrettably did not have a chance to play overtime. Lexi Thompson defeated Park Sung-hyun and Yani Tseng, who tied for second (14 under), by one-par difference overall. Park Sung-hyun who had tied for first with Korean New Zealander golfer Lydia Ko (18) when starting the fourth round, failed to win the title due to her shaky putting at the last minutes.