'Number 1' Ko Jin-young "First Start of the New Year"... Kim Hyo-joo "Title Defense GO"

'Asian Swing' HSBC Women's World Championship Victory Challenge, Park In-bi and Kim Se-young Join, Danielle Kang Aims for '2 Wins'

'Number 1' Ko Jin-young makes her first greeting of the new year at the HSBC Women's World Championship.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is the first outing of ‘Number 1’ Ko Jin-young (27) in 2022.

The HSBC Women’s World Championship (total prize money $1.7 million), held on the 3rd (Korean time) at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course (par 72, 6,718 yards) in Singapore, is a fierce battleground. It is the 4th event of the 2022 LPGA Tour season, an ‘Asian Swing’ where 66 players compete in stroke play over four days without a cut. Defending champion Kim Hyo-joo (27), 2019 British Women’s Open champion Hinako Shibuno, and Momoko Ueda (both from Japan) participated as invited players.

Ko Jin-young is the world No. 1 dominating the LPGA Tour. Since her debut in 2018, she has won 12 titles including 2 majors. She has received Rookie of the Year, became the first Korean player to win the money title three consecutive times (2019?2021), and won Player of the Year twice (2019, 2021). Notably, she swept 5 wins last season, including successfully defending her title at the CME Group Tour Championship, showing tremendous power with 5 wins in the last 9 tournaments.

The LPGA Tour started in January with the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, followed by the Gainbridge LPGA and the LPGA Drive On Championship. This tournament marks Ko Jin-young’s first appearance of the new year, drawing attention. She joined a camp run by swing coach Lee Si-woo in Palm Springs, California, focusing on training. She also has a good record at Sentosa Golf Club, finishing tied 6th in 2018 and tied 3rd in 2019.

Kim Hyo-joo aims for a second consecutive win at the HSBC Women's World Championship.

During the off-season, she focused on rehabilitation while treating a wrist injury. She also worked on improving her short game and other weaknesses. Ko Jin-young, who said she "recharged her energy by resting well," declared, "Preparation is complete," and asked for much support. Kim Hyo-joo is aiming for her second consecutive win. This is the promised land where she completed a 5-stroke comeback victory last May. She recalls the thrilling memory of winning her 4th career title here after 5 years and 3 months since the Bahamas Classic in February 2016.

‘Golf Empress’ Park In-bee (34, KB Financial Group) is making her third start of the year. She won this tournament twice, in 2015 and 2017. Korea is also represented by Kim Se-young (29, Mediheal), Lee Jeong-eun6 (26, Daebang Construction), Park Sung-hyun (29), and Yoo So-yeon (32, Mediheal). The strong contenders for the title include this year’s champions such as Danielle Kang (USA, Tournament of Champions champ), Lydia Ko (New Zealand, Gainbridge champ), and Leona Maguire (Ireland, Drive On champ).

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