At the fourth round of the LPGA Tour’s Cognizant Founders Cup (total prize money of 3 million U.S. dollars) held at Upper Montclair CC (par 72) in Clifton, New Jersey on Tuesday (Korea time), Jang shot a come-from-behind 6-under 66 to clinch the come-from-behind victory. Having recorded 24-under 264 overall, Jang beat Madeleine Saxstrom (Sweden, 22 under) by two strokes.
Jang is a rising star who set a new milestone of winning the LPGA Tour debut title for the first time in 72 years at the Mizuho American Open in June last year. Having enjoyed a rookie season by ranking 21st in prize money, Jang won his third top-10 title at his seventh competition this season. Jang, who lifted his second trophy in 343 days, aims to defend his title and win the Mizuho American Open title for two consecutive weeks.
Jang started the final round on the day by posting birdies at the 3rd and 4th holes (par 4) to take the lead for a while, but his gap with Sakstrom, who reduced his pars by four through the 12th hole, widened to three pars, seemingly moving away from winning the title. However, he garnered four birdies at five holes from the 14th to the 18th holes to reverse the game with his concentration. Jang, who followed by one-par gap by posting birdies at consecutive holes 14 and 15th, matched Sakstrom, who lost one par at the 16th hole, and displayed an upset by posting birdies at consecutive holes 17th (par 3) and 18th (par 4).
Jang displayed his best performance this week. He recorded the most birdies (27), the first in the accuracy rate (84.7%), and the least number of putts (109) and recorded the 60s (63-68-67-66) for the first time since entering the LPGA tour. “I didn’t think about turning pro two years ago, even in May last year. I think it’s a blessing to win two championships on a stage where amazing players with incredible careers are present,” Jang said after the match. Sakstrom saw his second career win in four years since 2020, but dropped his head in the background.토토사이트 순위
World No. 1 Nelly Korda (U.S.), who challenged to set a new record of six consecutive wins, lost one shot and finished tied for seventh (7 under par). Korda, who has won five consecutive LPGA tours along with Nancy Lopez (U.S.) and Annika Sorenstam (Sweden), said, “The record of most consecutive wins is unlikely to be broken for more than 10 to 15 years, but it will change someday.”
Having failed to report its first win in 11 competitions since the opening of this season, the Korean national team has lost face as it failed to list any of its top 10 players for the second time after the drive-on championship in January this year. Ko Jin-young, who won the championship last year, tied for 12th (6 under) along with Kim Sei-young. Im Jin-hee, who ranks first in rookie points, finished the competition tied for 18th (5 under).