Ko Ji-woo wins KLPGA Hione Resort Open in wire-to-wire fashion

Ko Ji-woo claimed a wire-to-wire victory at the KLPGA Tour Hione Resort Women's Open, which carried a purse of 1 billion won ($665,000).

Ko carded two bogeys for a 2-over-par 75 in the final round Sunday at Hione Country Club (par 73) in Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon Province, but her lead was never threatened.

Having shared the lead after the first round and taken sole possession of first place after the second, Ko held the top of the leaderboard through the finish. She completed the tournament at 22-under-par 270 to claim her first win of the season and fourth on the KLPGA Tour, taking home 180 million won.

All four of Ko's career victories have come at tournaments held in Gangwon Province. The Jeju Island native earned her first KLPGA Tour win at the 2023 McColl·Mona Yongpyong Open, then added the Hione Resort Women's Open in 2024 and the McColl·Mona Yongpyong Open in 2025 before capturing the Hione Resort Women's Open title again this year.

The win moved Ko up to 16th in the season money rankings and 12th in the player of the year points standings.

Ko entered the final round with an eight-stroke lead but appeared to feel the pressure, making no birdies and two bogeys over the front nine to drop two strokes. After recording her second bogey of the round at the par-5 fourth hole, she parred the remaining 14 holes through the 18th.

At the post-round news conference, Ko said she had not been thinking about protecting her score. "I actually tried to play aggressively because I wanted to make birdies, but things didn't go the way I hoped," she said. Ko, who struggled with an injury early in the season, added: "I learned that I need to take better care of my body, and that has helped me mentally."

Park Hye-jun and Seong Yu-jin each finished 4 under for the day to share second place at 17-under-par 275, five strokes behind Ko. Defending champion Bang Sin-sil finished at 8-under-par 284 to tie for 29th, while rookie Kim Min-sol, who has three wins this season, ended at 7-under-par 285 to tie for 34th.