'Number 1' Park Minji "6 Wins GO"... Choi Hyejin "Heading to the Promised Land"

Mekkol and Mona Park Open: Park Hyun-kyung's 3rd Runner-up Attempt in 4 Tries for 3 Consecutive Wins, Kim Min-sun 5 Aims to Defend Title

Park Min-ji aims for her 6th win of the season at the Maekcol·Monapark Open.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is the challenge for 6 wins by ‘Number 1’ Park Min-ji (23, NH Investment & Securities).

The event is the McCol·Mona Park Open (total prize money 800 million KRW) of the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour, held over three days from the 2nd of next month at Birch Hill Golf Club in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do (par 72, 6,434 yards). She took sufficient rest after skipping last week’s BC Card·Hankyung Ladies Cup. Park Min-ji is a player who automatically joined the KLPGA Tour by winning the team event at the 2016 World Team Amateur Championship. She gained attention by securing her first victory at the 2017 Samchully Together Open.

She won one title each year, including the 2018 ADT Caps Championship and back-to-back victories at the 2019-2020 MBN Women’s Open. This year, she is at the peak of her golf career. She has participated in nine tournaments and swept an impressive five wins. Her winning probability is as high as 55.56%. Her powerful long drives averaging 251.78 yards (ranked 13th), fairway hit rate of 83.12% (7th), and greens in regulation rate of 77.78% (1st) are her driving forces. Additionally, her average putting is outstanding at 29.38 strokes (9th).

These are the secrets behind her being first in prize money (948.05 million KRW), second in the points for the Player of the Year (333 points), first in average score (69.50 strokes), and third in top 10 finish rate (66.67%). She has already set a remarkable record of winning two consecutive tournaments she entered. If she wins this tournament, she will achieve three consecutive wins following the Celltrion Queens Masters and the major Korea Women’s Open. Her goals are to break Shin Ji-ae’s (33) record of most wins in 2007 (9 wins) and Park Sung-hyun’s (28) record for most prize money in 2016 (1.33309 billion KRW).

Choi Hye-jin will challenge the top spot again at the McCol·Monapark Open, following her performances in 2017 and 2019.

Choi Hye-jin (22, Lotte), who is aiming for her third consecutive Player of the Year title, is a strong contender for the championship. Although she has not yet opened her winning account, she has shown consistent performance by entering the top 10 four times. Above all, it is welcome that this tournament is a ‘promised land’ where she won as an amateur in 2017 and again collected the winner’s trophy in 2019. Attention is also on whether Park Hyun-kyung (21, Korea Land & Housing Corporation Trust) can shake off the misfortune of finishing runner-up in three consecutive recent tournaments. It is also the title defense for Kim Min-seon 5 (26, Korea Land & Housing Corporation Trust).

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