Park In-bi "To Collect Major Trophies"... Popov 'Title Defense'

Declaration to Win First Title in 6 Years at AIG Women's Open: 'Olympic Members' Ko Jin-young, Kim Se-young, and Kim Hyo-joo Join, 'Number 1' Korda Among Favorites

Park In-bee aims to win the major AIG Women's Open for the first time in six years.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] ‘Golf Empress’ Park In-bee (33·KB Financial Group) has headed to the ‘Promised Land’ Scotland.

On the 19th (Korean time), she declared her participation in the final major of the 2021 LPGA Tour season, the AIG Women’s Open (total prize money $4.5 million), held at the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland (par 72, 6,850 yards). Previously known as the British Women’s Open, the tournament was renamed last year after the sponsorship changed to AIG. A total of 144 players competed. Defending champion is Sophia Popov (Germany), who became the first German player to win a major last August.

Park In-bee is a ‘living legend’ with 21 LPGA Tour wins including 7 majors. She set a new milestone by winning the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, achieving a ‘career golden slam.’ This time, she is determined to wash away the disappointment of failing to defend her Olympic title with a major victory. She has been preparing diligently for the Tokyo Olympics, joining the tour early and playing 13 tournaments to build up her condition.

Since winning the Kia Classic in March, she has entered the ‘top 10’ seven times. Although she hoped to become the first to defend an Olympic title, putting struggles led her to finish tied for 23rd. She expressed her frustration, saying, "I don’t think there will be another Olympics." Going forward, she will return to the LPGA Tour and focus on winning majors. She aims for her first major victory in six years since winning the 2015 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the AIG Women’s Open.

She is also strong on links courses, having won the AIG Women’s Open held at Trump Turnberry Golf Club in Scotland. She skipped last week’s Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open to focus entirely on this tournament. "My goal is to reach the top of a major," she emphasized. Korea’s Olympic members include Ko Jin-young (26), Kim Sei-young (28·Mediheal), and Kim Hyo-joo (26·Lotte). Also competing are Yoo So-yeon (31·Mediheal), Park Sung-hyun (28), and Lee Jeong-eun 6 (25·Daebang Construction).

Sofia Popov challenges for her second consecutive win at the major AIG Women's Open.

Popov is challenging for her second consecutive win. She is the protagonist of a life turnaround story, having overcome Lyme disease last year. Due to many withdrawals from the Marathon Classic caused by COVID-19, she secured a dramatic entry ticket. At that time, her world ranking was 304th. She is the lowest-ranked major champion since the world rankings were introduced in 2006. Olympic gold medalist Nelly Korda (USA) is a player to watch. Lydia Ko (New Zealand) and Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) are considered ‘dark horses.’

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