‘Number 2’ Ko Jin-young heads to Texas "to regain pride~"... Corda and Park In-bee take a ‘break’

Volunteers of America Classic First Win Rechallenge, Kim Hyo-joo and Park Sung-hyun as 'Dark Horses', Kim Se-young and Lee Jeong-eun 6 'Join'

'Number 2' Ko Jin-young will once again challenge for her first win of the season at the Volunteers of America Classic.

[Asia Economy Reporter Now Rae] "To restore pride."

‘Number 2’ Ko Jin-young (26) heads to Texas. The Volunteers of America (VOA) Classic, a US Women's Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour event with a total prize of $1.5 million, is held on the 2nd (Korean time) at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas (par 71, 6,475 yards). She lost the ‘Number 1’ spot to Nelly Korda (USA) in the weekly women's golf world rankings announced on the 29th. It is the first time in two years since she became world number one after winning the Evian Championship in July 2019.

This year, when the Tokyo Olympics are held, she has no titles. She has played in 10 tournaments and entered the ‘Top 10’ four times, but she was ‘2%’ short of the prestige of being world number one. In particular, her recent poor performances in the last two tournaments, tied 57th at the Meijer Classic and tied 46th at the third major of the 2021 season, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, were fatal blows. On the other hand, Korda swept two consecutive wins in the same tournament, securing her third victory of the season and taking the top spot.

Ko Jin-young has not shown the strength that made her the ‘money queen’ for two consecutive years this season. She has seemed somewhat burdened by the ‘weight of the crown.’ She ranks 14th in prize money, 12th in Player of the Year, and 15th in scoring average. Her shot statistics are not bad. Her fairway hit rate is 80.93% (10th), and her greens in regulation rate is 77.78% (6th), showing impressive accuracy. However, her average number of putts per round is 30.35 (67th), which is disappointing. She has not been making the ‘clutch putts’ that go in at critical moments.

'Number 6' Kim Hyo-joo aims for her second win of the season at the Volunteers of America Classic.

It is encouraging that she has a good record with this tournament. She tied for 8th in 2018 and finished 5th last year. Korea is placing hopes on Kim Hyo-joo (26, Lotte), ranked 6th in the world. She is on the rise, tied for 3rd at the KPMG Women's PGA. 2018 champion Park Sung-hyun (28) is aiming for a turnaround in momentum. Kim Sei-young (28, Mediheal) and Lee Jeong-eun 6 (25, Daebang Construction) have joined. It is the title defense for Angela Stanford (USA), a Texas native. Korda and Park In-bee (33, KB Financial Group) have chosen to rest.

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