'Major Queen' Kim Se-young: "This time the target is the inaugural champ"... What about 'Number 1' Ko Jin-young?

On the Night of the 19th Opening at Pelican Women's, 'Marching to 2 Wins,' Ko Jin-young and Lee Jeong-eun 6 Return to LPGA Tour

Se-young Kim challenges to become the inaugural champion at the Pelican Women's Championship.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] 'Major Queen' Kim Se-young (27, Mirae Asset) is now aiming to become the inaugural champion.

On the night of the 19th (Korean time), the LPGA Tour Pelican Women's Championship (total prize money $1.5 million) will be held at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, USA (par 70, 6,268 yards). Originally scheduled for May, this new event was postponed by six months due to the impact of COVID-19. The LPGA Tour resumes after a month since the Drive On Championship on the 22nd of last month. A total of 108 players will compete in a 72-hole stroke play format.

Kim Se-young achieved a commanding 5-stroke victory at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship (total prize money $4.3 million), which concluded on the 12th of last month at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA. This marked her 11th career win after 11 months since the Tour Championship last November, with special significance as she succeeded in the major with a '28 attempts and 29th success' record. After the tournament, she returned to Korea and spent two weeks in self-quarantine, took a short break domestically, and departed again on the 7th.

This season, she has been performing well, entering the 'Top 10' three times including one win in six tournaments. It is noteworthy that Kim Se-young leads the average score ranking (68.39), bringing her closer to winning the Vare Trophy. The second place is Nasa Hataoka (Japan, 69.36), and third is Brooke Henderson (Canada, 69.36). In earnings, she ranks second ($908,219) behind Park In-bee (32, KB Financial Group, $1,066,520), third in Player of the Year points (76 points), and fourth in the CME Globe Race (1,054 points).

Kim Se-young stands out with her powerful long drives averaging 266.83 yards (13th) and her pinpoint iron shots with a green hit rate of 79.23% (1st). Her average putts per hole is also excellent at 1.74 (2nd). Following this tournament, she will participate in the major US Women's Open (December 10-13) and the season finale CME Group Tour Championship (December 17-20). She said, "I think winning the Vare Trophy is possible," and expressed her determination, "I want to achieve good results in the remaining tournaments."

It is interesting that world No. 1 Ko Jin-young (27) is returning to the LPGA Tour. This year, due to COVID-19, she only played on the Korean LPGA (KLPGA) Tour. She said, "I thought a lot about whether to go to the US," and has scheduled to participate in three consecutive tournaments. Lee Jeong-eun 6 (24, Daebang Construction), last year's Rookie of the Year, is returning to the LPGA Tour after nine months since the Australian Women's Open in February. Park Sung-hyun (27) and Hur Mi-jung (31, Daebang Construction) are also supporting the field.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.