“Event competition? “This is a competition I really want to win.”

Lee Dong-eun, first day of Wemix Championship

Defeated Bang Shin-sil and advanced to final A group

“I want to play hard and win.”

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As for moving. Photo provided by KLPGA

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Galleries gathered in the teeing area of ​​hole 1 on the first day of the Wemix Championship on the 16th. Photo courtesy of Competition Organizing Committee

The Wemix Championship, held at Haeundae Beach Golf & Resort in Gijang, Busan, is an event held after the end of the 2024 season of the Korea Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour. However, for ‘rookie’ Lee Dong-eun (20, SBI Savings Bank), it is not just an event competition to laugh and enjoy.

Lee Dong-eun joined the Final A group by winning by 2 holes against Bang Shin-sil in 1-1 match play on the first day of the Wemix Championship, which ended on the 16th. In this competition, only the top 24 players in Wemix points will participate, and on the first day, they will be divided into 12 teams and play 1-on-1 single match play, and then the winners and losers will be divided into final A and B groups, respectively. On the second day, each group competes in stroke play. The winner of the Final A group becomes the competition champion.

Lee Dong-eun, who debuted on the KLPGA tour this season, has not yet won a championship, but has participated in 30 competitions and placed in the top 10 eight times, including two runner-up finishes. In the SK Telecom/SK Shielders Championship, the final game of the season that ended last week, they lost to Madasom after a close overtime match and failed to cross the threshold of victory. As my recent performance has been good, I am determined to lift the trophy in this competition.

On this day, Lee Dong-eun took the lead from the beginning of the game. Starting with a birdie on the 1st hole (par 4), he won the 4th hole (par 5) and the 6th hole (par 3), taking the lead by 3 holes. Bang Shin-sil caught birdies on the 7th hole (par 5) and 11th hole (par 4) to close the gap by 1 hole, but Lee Dong-eun made a 2-hole lead again with a birdie on the 13th hole (par 4). After giving up the 15th hole (par 4), he completed the victory by 2 holes with a birdie on the 18th hole (par 5).

After the game, Lee Dong-eun said, “It’s been a while since I played a match play game, so I was a little nervous, but it was really fun to play with Shinsil.” He added, “I understand that the prize money for winning this tournament is comparable to that of a major tournament. “I don’t think of it as an event competition, I just want to play hard and win,” he said.

The winning prize for this contest, which awards Wemix, a virtual asset created by game company Wemade, is 250,000 Wemix. Based on the virtual asset exchange Coinone, the price on the 16th (about 1,138 won per No. 1 mix) is about 284.5 million won.

Kim Min-seon defeated Yoon Na-na, who swept the prize money, grand prize (MVP), and least number of hits awards this season, and Seo Jin-jin caused a surprise by defeating Lee Ye-won, who was tied for most wins this year (3 wins). In addition, Park Ji-young, Bae So-hyun, and Park Hyun-kyung, who won three games this season, as well as Hwang Yu-min, Kim Su-ji, Noh Seung-hee, Lee Je-young, Lee Ga-young, and Ji Han-sol won the match play and competed for the championship in the Final A group.

Meanwhile, according to the organizers, close to 7,000 ‘cloud spectators’ gathered on the first day of the competition.