Only 8 Korean Players Invited... Will Korean Women's Golf Restore Honor at Home?

LPGA Tour BMW Championship Opens on the 20th at Oak Valley CC
Ko Jin-young, Park Sung-hyun, Yoo So-yeon and Others Gather... Showdown with Tee-tigun and Lydia Ko

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Ko Jin-young making her comeback through the LPGA BMW Ladies Championship.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Taewon] 'Break the winless streak.'

After the streak of 12 consecutive wins in the U.S. Women's Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour came to an end, struggling Korean women's golf is challenging to restore its honor on home ground. The LPGA Tour BMW Ladies Championship (total prize money $2 million) will be held on the 20th at Oak Valley CC in Wonju, Gangwon Province.

Above all, the possibility of winning is higher than ever as top-tier players are all gathered for this tournament. Among the 10 special invitees, 8 are Korean players. It is also a positive factor that the defending champion of this tournament, Ko Jin-young (27), is returning from injury.

The BMW Ladies Championship is the only LPGA Tour event held domestically in Korea. On the 13th, the LPGA confirmed and announced the list of 78 players who will participate this year. According to the title sponsor BMW, 78 players will participate in this tournament, including 68 LPGA players and 10 special invitees.

Ko Jin-young, Atthaya Thitikul, Lydia Ko... Battle of the Stars

The BMW Ladies Championship is basically a tournament where players ranked up to 68th in the LPGA Tour CME Globe points (or the next in line if the higher-ranked players do not participate) compete. Therefore, many top-level players participate.

World No. 1 Ko Jin-young, No. 2 Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand), No. 3 Australian-Korean Minjee Lee, No. 5 New Zealand-Korean Lydia Ko, No. 9 Nasa Hataoka (Japan), and No. 10 Kim Hyo-joo (27) are all aiming for the championship. Especially, the outcome of this tournament could change the holder of the world No. 1 ranking, drawing much attention.

No. 4 Nelly Korda (USA), No. 6 Brooke Henderson (Canada), No. 7 Jeon In-ji (28), and No. 8 Lexi Thompson (USA) will not participate.

Among Korean players active on the LPGA Tour, Choi Hye-jin (23), who is competing with Thitikul for the Rookie of the Year, as well as Kim Se-young (29), An Na-rin (26), Kim A-rim (27), Ji Eun-hee (36), Choi Woon-jung (32), Lee Jeong-eun 6 (26), Yang Hee-young (33), Shin Ji-eun (30), and Kang Hye-ji (32) will participate.

Defending champion Ko Jin-young had about a seven-week break due to wrist injury treatment since the CP Women's Open in August. Especially, as she stands at the threshold of defending her world No. 1 ranking, she is expected to show outstanding concentration.

Park Sung-hyun and Yoo So-yeon, Will They End the 12-Match Winless Streak for Korean Players?

The invited Korean players are also impressive.

Choi Na-yeon (35), who has achieved 9 LPGA wins, and Park Sung-hyun (29), the 'flagship star' who swept Rookie of the Year, Money Leader, and Player of the Year awards in her debut year on the LPGA Tour, will participate. Also, Hong Ye-eun (20), who debuted on the LPGA stage this year, Kim In-kyung (34) with 7 LPGA wins, Yoo So-yeon (32) with 6 wins, and the recently rising Lee Mi-hyang (29) are all aiming for victory. Amateur players Kim Min-sol (1st year at Suseong Broadcasting High School) and Yoo Hyun-jo (2nd year at Cheonan Central Broadcasting High School), who earned entry through the Korea Golf Association (KGA) recommendation, are also dreaming of an upset.

However, it is regrettable that Jeon In-ji, who won the major KPMG LPGA Championship this year and was expected to return through this tournament after being diagnosed with inflammation due to thoracic outlet syndrome on the 23rd of last month, was ultimately excluded from the list of participants.

Controversy Over KLPGA Blocking Its Players' Participation Remains

Meanwhile, although this tournament is an LPGA Tour event, it is expected to affect the KLPGA as well depending on the results. This is due to the controversy over the KLPGA's closed-off management that arose ahead of the tournament.

Before the tournament, the KLPGA posted a notice titled 'Unrecognized Overseas Tour Guide' on its website. The association stated in the notice, "From this year, the 'BMW Ladies Championship' is classified as a tournament not recognized by the association," and "Players without LPGA Tour status cannot participate in this tournament." The association added that violations could result in disciplinary actions. The penalties stated by the association include up to a 10-match suspension and a fine of up to 100 million KRW.

Until last year, the KLPGA participated in this tournament as a local partner. Therefore, besides LPGA Tour status holders, the top 30 players in the KLPGA Tour money rankings also participated. The tournament results were also reflected in the KLPGA Tour money rankings.

However, this year, negotiations between the two sides regarding tournament management broke down, and the tournament is held solely under LPGA management. The KLPGA blocked its players from participating to protect its domestic tour. As a result, KLPGA-affiliated players are unable to participate in this tournament.

This has led to criticism that the KLPGA's closed-off management to prevent losing star players to overseas tours has caused a weakening of the international competitiveness of Korean women's golf.

Korean women's golf has not lifted the LPGA Tour trophy for 12 consecutive tournaments since Jeon In-ji at the major KPMG Women's PGA Championship in June. This is the first time in over eight years since the 17 consecutive tournaments without a Korean winner from October 2013 to June 2014 that Korean players have failed to win more than 10 consecutive LPGA Tour events.

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