Shin Ji-yai clinches JLPGA lifetime exemption

Shin Ji-yai won the Japan Women's Open in a three-hole playoff on Sunday for her 30th JLPGA Tour title at Takarazuka Golf Club in Hyogo, Japan.

The win qualifies the 38-year-old for a lifetime exemption on the tour, which is given to players with 30 tour wins and lets them play on the JLPGA for life without having to requalify. She is the seventh player to earn the exemption.

She also became the first player in JLPGA Tour history to win all four of the tour's majors.

Shin left her mark on the KLPGA Tour in Korea and the LPGA Tour in the United States, but the JLPGA Tour is where she has had her greatest success. She won her first JLPGA title at the 2008 Yokohama Tire Golf Tournament PRGR Ladies Cup and moved her career to Japan in 2014, piling up wins quickly from there.

She won the JLPGA Tour Championship Ricoh Cup in 2015 and 2018, the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup in 2018 and 2025, and the Japan LPGA Championship in 2018 before completing the set with Sunday's Japan Women's Open.

The 30th win did not come easily. Playing through rain showers in the final round, Shin finished tied with Japan's Shiho Kuwaki at 11-under-par 269. She birdied the par-4 18th hole on the third playoff hole to claim the title. The winner's prize is 30 million yen ($190,000).

BY KO BONG-JUN [[email protected]]