Heo In-hoe (37, Geumgang House) won the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour iMBank Open (total prize money of 500 million won).
In the final 4th round of the tournament held at Pami Hills Country Club (par 71, 7,149 yards) in Chilgok, Gyeongsangbuk-do on the 24th, Heo In-hoe hit 9 under par 63 with no bogeys and 9 birdies. He won the final with a final total of 20 under par, 264 strokes.
With this, Heo In-hoe recorded her fifth win on the KLPGA Korean Tour. This is the first win in 2 years and 4 months since the GS Caltex Maekyung Open in May 2021. Last year, he was ranked in the top 10 four times, but did not win the championship trophy. This year, the highest ranking was 5th place at the Honors K·Solago CC Single Prize Invitational last July.
Heo In-hoe tied for 5th place in the first round, then moved up to 3rd place on the second day and tied for the lead in the 3rd round. In the final round, he showed off his accurate shots and won the championship.
On this day, Heo In-hoe succeeded in making a birdie starting from the 1st hole (par 4). He then made consecutive birdies in the 3rd hole (par 5) and 4th hole (par 3), and then reduced one stroke in the 8th hole (par 3). The performance continued in the second half. After catching a birdie at the 11th hole (par 4), he succeeded in making 3 consecutive birdies starting from the 13th hole (par 5). He then confirmed his victory by reducing one stroke in the 17th hole (par 4).
Heo In-hoe receives 100 million won in winning prize money, two years of KPGA Korean Tour seeding (2024-2025), and 1,000 Genesis points.
Following Heo In-hoe, Lee Jeong-hwan ranked second with a final total of 16 under par and 268 strokes. Sang-pil Yoon and Sang-ho Lee tied for third place with a final total of 12 under par and 272 strokes.
After the game, Heo In-hoe said through KPGA, “I am very happy because it is my first win in 2 years and 4 months. I got off to a good start with a birdie on the first hole and felt like I had already won. I would like to express my gratitude to those who helped me win. Until the end, I was in 2nd place and 2nd place. “I thought it was a stroke, so I remembered the mistake I made in the last Maekyung Open on the last hole (laughter),” he said.레고토토
When asked about the driving force behind winning, he confessed, “This time, I felt that the sky was predicting victory. There were no mistakes in the score, but all the putts that missed went into the hole cup. Looking at this, I thought that ‘luck’ plays a strong role in winning.”
He also expressed his gratitude to his fans. Heo In-hoe said, “Every time I made a birdie in the latter hole, the tension of the gallery people increased and the average driver distance went further than usual. I felt that I went about 350 yards further in the 10th hole (par 4) and the 11th hole (par 4). ‘It’s worth a try.’ I thought to myself, ‘I will do it.’ I think the cheers of the gallery people gave me an unknown strength.”
When asked if he had a feeling of winning after the 3rd round, he said, “I didn’t have a good feel for the putt in the 3rd round. I thought I was in the top 10 after the 3rd round, but I was surprised to see that I was tied for the lead. I thought the putt was the key, and I had a very good feel for the putt in today’s game. “It was good,” he said.
Regarding showing a strong performance in the second half of the year following last year, “I think I won the championship earlier than I thought (laughter). I feel like the water broke early. Personally, I won the ‘Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Choi Kyung-joo Invitational’ and the ‘Genesis Championship’ in the second half of the year. “I wanted to target,” he said.
Heo In-hoe, who won her first championship after the birth of her son, said, “My son (Heo) Lee-soo is a ‘lucky piece.’ I thought it would be good to win before the baby got older. I didn’t want to hear that my son’s grades were not good after he was born (laughter) “I plan to have my son play golf when he grows up. I hope that winning with my son will have a positive influence on him.”
Heo In-hoe’s goal for the remainder of the season is to add one more win. He said, “Based on the good energy of this win, I want to add one more win. The focus will be on the ‘Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Choi Kyung-joo Invitational.’”
