Players' Superstitions: "This Must Always Be Followed"... Which Tournament Is Considered a Bad Luck?

Woods and Kim Se-young in 'Red Outfits', Kim Hyo-joo with 'Matching Round Golf Ball', Mickelson's 'US Open Six-Time Runner-Up Nightmare'

The "Golf Emperor" Tiger Woods wore a red shirt on the final day and achieved an impressive 82 wins.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] ‘Jinx’.

A psychological phenomenon where one first has a bad premonition. Park Min-ji (23, NH Investment & Securities), the ‘No. 1 in Korea,’ is an exception. She is the type who tries not to create a jinx. On the day of the tournament, she even eats seaweed soup and uses the dreaded No. 4 golf ball. Generally, golf, where mental strength is crucial, has countless jinxes. This is a story about players’ jinxes who pay attention to the smallest details to achieve better results.

▲ "Wears it" = ‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA) always wears a red shirt on the final day. It is a winning secret his Thai mother heard from an astrologer. When he appears on the field wearing red, competitors lose their spirit. This is the power behind his tied record of 82 wins, the most in PGA Tour history. Kim Sei-young (28, Mediheal), a 12-time LPGA Tour champion, is also a ‘Red Mania.’ She wears white tops with red pants.

Ricky Fowler (USA) wears orange, the Oklahoma State University color, on the last day. Sponsor Puma enjoys great success with ‘orange marketing.’ Kim Ha-neul (33), the ‘Smile Queen’ retiring this year, wears sky blue, the same as her name. Paula Creamer (USA), the ‘Pink Princess,’ dresses entirely in pink from head to toe. Bae Sang-moon (35, Kiwoom Securities) never wears a black hat.

Kim Hyo-joo has a superstition of using the ball number that matches the round.

▲ "Chooses it" = The number golfers like most is ‘1,’ which means winning. They want to use No. 1 on golf balls, cars, phone numbers, and more. No. 3 is also popular. It means they want to make birdies on the most par-4 holes (14) out of 18 holes. Yang Yong-eun (49) developed a habit of attachment to No. 3 after using the No. 3 ball when he won the PGA Championship. Hong Ran (35, Samchully) marks three red dots on her ball.

There are also disliked numbers. No. 2 means "dislike for runner-up and two-putts." No. 4 is avoided in East Asian cultures as the ‘death number.’ LPGA member Kim Hyo-joo (26, Lotte) uses the ball number matching the round, such as No. 1 on the first day and No. 2 on the second day. Im Sung-jae (23, CJ Logistics) uses the ball number matching the round for the first three rounds and then switches back to No. 1 ball in the fourth round. Jack Nicklaus (USA), on the other hand, was famous for insisting on only No. 4.

Phil Mickelson has an unfortunate history of finishing as the runner-up six times at the US Open.

▲ "Strangely twisted" = Players have jinxes with specific tournaments. The oldest major champion Phil Mickelson (USA) has a frustrating relationship with the US Open. He finished second six times in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2013. Although he has 45 PGA Tour wins including five majors, he has not been able to join the ‘career grand slam’ club because of the US Open.

Arnold Palmer (USA) achieved 62 PGA Tour wins but struggled particularly at the PGA Championship. Despite 37 appearances, he never stood at the top, ultimately missing out on the ‘career grand slam.’ Lee Westwood (England) has no connection with major wins. He collected 44 wins in total but shrank on the big stage. There is a jinx that the winner of the ‘Par 3 Contest’ at the Masters performs poorly in the main tournament.

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