Ko Ji-won Wins Inaugural The Siena Open for Third KLPGA Title

Ko Ji-won captured the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour’s 2026 domestic season opener on Saturday.

Ko shot a 1-over 73 in the final round of the The Siena Open at The Siena Belluto Country Club (par 72) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, with two birdies and three bogeys.

She finished at 13-under 275, edging runner-up Seo Gyo-rim, last year’s rookie of the year, by one stroke (12-under 276).

Ko became the inaugural champion of the newly created event and earned 180 million won from the 1 billion won ($?) total purse.

Ko debuted on the KLPGA Tour in 2023. After competing as a conditional entrant, she won for the first time at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in August last year, securing her tour card through the 2027 season. She added a second title in November at the S-OIL Championship.

Saturday’s victory was her first on the mainland, after both of her previous wins came in her hometown of Jeju Island. She also made a hole-in-one Friday on the par-3 seventh and became the 10th player to win a tournament in which she recorded an ace.

“I’m really happy to start the domestic season with a good result,” Ko said. “Both the hole-in-one and winning on the mainland are firsts for me. Having so many firsts makes me even happier. After I won twice in Jeju, people kept telling me to win on the mainland, too. I’m glad my first mainland win came at The Siena Belluto Country Club.”  
Ko missed the cut last month at the Rejuran Championship in Thailand, the KLPGA Tour’s first event of the year. She led from the opening round of the domestic opener and stayed on top through all four rounds for a wire-to-wire win.

“At the season opener, my putting felt like it was only about 20% of what I wanted,” she said. “This week it was up to about 60%. In between, I really focused on putting practice.”

Ko traded birdies and bogeys on the back nine while holding the lead. She stumbled with consecutive bogeys at the par-4 13th and 14th, then steadied herself by sinking a birdie putt of about 3 meters at the par-5 16th. She bogeyed the par-3 17th after finding a greenside bunker, allowing the margin to shrink to one again.

On the par-4 18th, Seo’s birdie try from about 5 meters missed, and Ko calmly saved par to seal the one-shot victory.

Recalling the two straight bogeys, Ko said, “After the first bogey, I thought, ‘A mistake was bound to happen at some point,’ so I actually felt lighter. But after the second bogey, I think I got a little shaken. Then I thought, ‘I’ve made all my mistakes for today,’ and I felt comfortable again.”
  Ko said her three career wins have given her confidence.

“Before my first win, I didn’t think I was a player who could win,” she said. “I wanted to win, but I felt like I had too many shortcomings and it seemed far away. After winning once, I gained confidence. It makes me want to keep challenging myself. That confidence is the biggest thing.”

With the victory, Ko matched the career win total of her older sister, Ko Ji-woo.

“I’m happy to catch up to my sister’s win total,” she said. “But all my wins are thanks to her. She taught me a lot, and I think that’s why I could do it. In that sense, I think she has six wins.”

Ko added that she expects her sister to be motivated by the result and hopes they can push each other while adding to their totals.

Looking ahead, Ko said she wants to top last year’s two-win season and is aiming to win the Korea Women’s Open in June.

Rookie Yang Hyo-jin finished alone in third at 10-under 278.

Amateur Kim Seo-a, born in 2012 and a student at Sinseong Middle School, shot 9-under 279 to tie for fourth with Cho A-yeon.

Park Sung-hyun, the world No. 1 who played on an invitation, finished tied for 13th at 5-under 283.

Last year’s grand prize winner Yoo Hyun-jo finished tied for 26th at 2-under 286, and last year’s money leader Hong Jung-min tied for 53rd at 4-over 292.



* This article has been translated by AI.

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