Lee won the Deoksin EPC Championship on Saturday at Kingsdale Golf Club in Chungju, North Chungcheong province, shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round with six birdies and two bogeys. The tournament carried a total purse of 1 billion won.
She finished at 12-under 204, beating Park Hyun-kyung (9-under 207) by three strokes for her first title of the season.
With the 180 million won winner’s check, Lee moved to No. 1 in the season money list at 353.07 million won and also climbed to No. 1 in player-of-the-year points.
It was her first victory in 11 months, since winning the Doosan Match Play in May last year, and made her the 16th player in KLPGA Tour history to reach 10 career wins.
The win again underscored Lee’s reputation as a strong spring performer. Seven of her first nine tour titles came between March and May.
Lee earned her first tour win at the Lotte Rent-a-Car Women’s Open in April 2023, then won the Doosan Construction We’ve Championship in August and the HiteJinro Championship in October. That season she swept the tour’s top honors for player of the year, money leader and scoring average.
In 2024, she won three of the first nine events, and last year she won three of the first seven, finishing as co-leader in wins for two straight years.
This year, she was runner-up at the season opener in March and tied for sixth at the iM Financial Open, which ended April 12. With this victory, she has been in contention three times in five spring events.
In a postround TV interview, Lee said, “I’m happy to reach 10 wins faster than I expected. I like spring because I play well in spring, but this year I want to win in the fall, too. My goal this season is three wins, including a major.”
Park, who had not posted a top-10 finish in the first four events, recorded the day’s best score with a 6-under 66 and secured her best result of the season.
Han Jin-seon, Yoo Hyun-jo, Kim Si-hyun, Yoo Seo-yeon and Kim Jae-hee tied for third at 8-under 208.
Defending champion Kim Min-sun, who was seeking a second straight title after winning the Nexen Saint Nine Masters on April 19, tied for 17th at 5-under 211.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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