Hae Ran Lee, 22, has been crowned the Rookie of the Year for the 2023 season on the Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour.
Hae-ran carded six birdies and one bogey for a 5-under 65 in the final four rounds of the LPGA Tour’s The Annika Driven by Gainbridge ($3.25 million purse) at Pelican Golf Club (Par 70) in Bellerive, Florida (USA) on Wednesday. 캡틴토토 주소
Her final total of 12-under-par 268 earned her a tie for 12th place and the Rookie of the Year honors.
Hae-ran has accumulated 893 Rookie of the Year points through this event, trailing runner-up Grace Kim (AUS – 619) by 274 points. Even if Grace Kim wins the CME Group Tour Championship, the final event of the 2023 season, on May 17, and earns 150 Rookie of the Year points, it would be impossible for her to surpass Hae-ran’s score, so Hae-ran clinched the title with one event remaining.
Park Se-ri won the award in 1998, followed by Kim Mi-hyun in 1999, Han Hee-won in 2001, Ahn Si-hyun in 2004, Lee Sun-hwa in 2006, Shin Ji-ae in 2009, Seo Hee-kyung in 2011, Yoo So-yeon in 2012, Kim Se-young in 2015, Jeon Ji-in in 2016, Park Sung-hyun in 2017, Ko Jin-young in 2018, and Lee Jeong-eun in 2019, making Hae-ran the 14th Korean player to win the award.
There was no LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was a strong showing by Thai rookies, with Patti Thawatanakit taking home the honor in 2021 and Ataya Thittitjer in 2022. Hae-ran is the first Korean player to win Rookie of the Year in four years.
“I’m really proud of myself,” said Hae-ran. Every rookie wants to win Rookie of the Year, and there have been great players who have won it. I’m happy to add my name to the list of Rookie of the Year winners.”
The other winner of the day was Lilia Boo (USA), who shaved four strokes off her total to finish at 19-under par 261. It was Boo’s fourth victory of the season, following wins at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February, the Chevron Championship in April and the AIG Women’s British Open in August. She earned $475,000 for the win.
Currently ranked No. 2 in the world, Boo is expected to regain the top spot in the Women’s World Golf Ranking when it is released on Thursday. She also moved into first place in the Player of the Year category with 196 points, ahead of second-place Celine Boutier (FRA – 169). With a 27-point lead heading into the final round, Boo is also within striking distance of the Player of the Year honor. Boutier’s only chance to win the title is if she wins the final event and Vu finishes eighth or worse. Boo will be the first American to win Player of the Year in nine years since Stacy Lewis in 2014.
Allison Lee (USA) and Asaara Muñoz (Spain) are tied for second (16-under 264), while Hee-young Yang (34) was unable to cut any strokes and finished tied for fourth (15-under 265).
Emilie Christine Pedersen (DEN), who led after three rounds and was looking for her first career victory, slipped to a tie for fifth place (14-under 266) after dropping four strokes. She also failed to crack the CME Globe Top 60, which would have qualified her for the final round. He was 80th in the CME Globe standings prior to this event and could have moved up to 35th with a win, but his tie for fifth left him 70th in the CME Globe standings.
Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour concludes its 2023 season with the CME Group Tour Championship, which begins on July 17. While Boutier enters the final event atop the CME Globe, all 60 players in the final field will be vying for the $2 million first-place prize.