Can Park Min-ji (25, NH Investment & Securities), who has won 16 individual wins, win three consecutive championships?
Park Min-ji will challenge to win the final round of the ‘2023 KLPGA Tour NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship’ starting at Suwon CC located in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do on the 14th.
Earlier, in the second round held the day before, Park Min-ji recorded only one bogey, but managed to reduce 3 strokes with clean play, such as catching 4 birdies.
After a tie for 25th in the first round, Park Min-ji, who raised her ranking to a tie for 14th, will be in Group 7 with Kim Su-ji and Lee Seung-yeon for the final round.
The reason why Park Min-ji’s안전놀이터 move is getting a lot of attention is that she is at stake for her third consecutive victory in this tournament. Previously, Minji Park had reached the top of this competition in 2021 and 2022. Coincidentally, NH Investment & Securities was his main sponsor, so it was a bonus that the meaning was different.
In particular, the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship is also famous as a tournament that mobilizes the most galleries on the KLPGA tour. This is because it has the geographical advantage of being located in the metropolitan area and within the city center.
This tournament also attracted many spectators from the first day, and on the 13th, when the second round was held, 11,903 people were counted. It goes without saying that a cheering squad supporting a specific player in the galleries is included. In fact, in this tournament, a crowd of fans following the star players, reminiscent of a cheering match, created a spectacle.
It was the same with Park Min-ji. Park Min-ji, who is known for having many die-hard fans, has solidified her position as the strongest in tour events over the past two years, and based on this, she seems to have secured more fans this season.
At the time of the second round, when Park Min-ji headed to the tee shot zone at hole 1 to play the game, cheers erupted from the fans who were already seated with the words “Pro Min-ji is coming”, and Park Min-ji also responded with a bright smile.
Being able to lead a large crowd of fans is bound to be of great help to a player. When the ‘excitement’ is raised and the fans cheer, the strength that was not there is bound to come out. The final round is also expected to be cheered by as many fans as the day before, and Park Min-ji also challenges for her third consecutive victory in the tournament.
Then, what is the possibility of a miraculous come-from-behind victory?
It is necessary to look back on Park Min-ji’s past victories. Park Min-ji, who won a total of 16 wins on the KLPGA tour, kissed the trophy after showing stable skills throughout the tournament in the remaining 15 victories, except for the 2021 Doosan Match Play, which was held in a tournament format. In other words, like most players who reach the championship, they entered the final round at the top.
Among the tournaments where he won the championship, the tournament with the lowest ranking in the first round was a tie for 27th at the Hite Jinro Championship last year. After that, after raising her to a tie for 7th in the second round and a tie for 3rd in the 3rd round, winning after an extended game in the final round was the best upset Park Min-ji recorded.
Park Min-ji, who recorded 5 under par through the 2nd round in this tournament, is 6 strokes behind co-leaders Lee Ye-won and Lim Jin-hee (11 under par). Not only is it not easy to reduce 6 strokes in one round, but it is a situation where you have to expect the opponent’s sluggishness, so it is possible to reverse the ranking only when a miracle happens.