‘Black Hole’ Park Minji Defends Title "Minji's Reign Starts~"... What About ‘LPGA Member’ Lee Mirim?

NH Investment & Securities Ladies 'Going for 2 Consecutive Wins', Yoo Hae-ran as a Key Contender, Champions Jang Su-yeon, Park Ji-young, and Cho Ah-yeon Join the Field

Park Min-ji has started her title defense at the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship.

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] It is the title defense for ‘Blackhole’ Park Min-ji (24, NH Investment & Securities).

The NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship (total prize money 800 million KRW) opens on the 13th at Suwon Golf Club in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province (par 72, 6,581 yards). She has thrilling memories of winning her second victory at this tournament in May, following her win at the Nexen Saint Nine Masters in April last year. Since then, she has added four more wins to reach the ‘6-win milestone,’ and by the end of the year, she not only led in wins and the Player of the Year points (680 points) but also became the first in KLPGA Tour history to surpass 1.5 billion KRW (1,521,370,000 KRW) in season prize money.

It is interesting that Park Min-ji has been struggling with COVID-19 this year. She was forced to withdraw from the season opener, the Lotte Rent-a-Car Women’s Open, due to a positive COVID-19 test, finished tied for 28th at the Mediheal Championship, and withdrew again from the Nexen Saint Nine Masters due to lingering COVID-19 symptoms. Fortunately, her shot form is recovering, as shown by her tied 4th place at the first major, the KLPGA Championship, and tied 8th place at the Kyochon Honey Ladies Open, which ended on the 8th. The motivation of playing on a sponsor-hosted stage adds to her drive.

Yoo Hae-ran is already aiming for her second win at the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship.

Yoo Hae-ran (21, Daol Financial Group) is a player to watch. She has made a strong start with one win and four top-5 finishes in five events, and her entry into the top 10, including a tied 10th at the KLPGA Championship, is a perfect 100%. Although it is still early in the season, she leads all individual titles, including prize money (317.91 million KRW), Player of the Year points (216 points), and lowest scoring average (69.63 strokes). Above all, her green hit rate ranks second (79.24%), and her ‘computer iron shots’ stand out.

The champion group, which includes Jang Soo-yeon (28) from the Lotte Rent-a-Car Women’s Open, Park Ji-young (26, Korea Land & Trust) from the Mediheal Championship, and Cho Ah-yeon (22) from the Kyochon Honey Ladies Open, who all secured their first wins early, have already entered the ‘two-win competition.’ Accompanying them is Lee Ga-young (23), who finished runner-up in the last two tournaments. Another point of interest is the ‘domestic visit’ of LPGA Tour member Lee Mi-rim (32, NH Investment & Securities), marking her first appearance in two years since the Korean Women’s Open in June 2020.

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