"The Classic of Taeguk Nangja"... 'Winning Probability 15.38%'

Ko Jin-young Only Player with 2 Wins in 13 Korean Tournaments
Dominant Champion Missing, 5 First-Time Winners Create ‘Unknown Player Surge’
KLPGA Tour Popularity... ‘Domestic Preference Over the US’

'15.38%'.

This is the winning probability recorded by Korean players on the U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour this year. It appears that the era when the Taegeuk ladies dominated the tour is gradually fading. Korea has only managed to secure 2 wins in 13 tournaments this season. Moreover, both wins were solely achieved by world No. 1 Ko Jin-young. Compared to nearly 10 wins every year, this is a modest figure. The LPGA Tour has 20 tournaments remaining this season, including the major KPMG Women's PGA Championship, which opened on the 22nd (local time).

Korea's first victory came in 1988 when Ku Ok-hee won the Standard Register, and last month Ko Jin-young topped the Cognizant Founders Cup, bringing Korea's total LPGA Tour wins to 207. Korea's golden years were in 2015, 2017, and 2019, when they swept up 15 wins each year. Especially in 2017, as many as 11 players became champions. They dominated the world women's golf scene in both quantity and quality.

Ko Jin-young is the only Korean player to have collected a winner's trophy on the LPGA Tour this year.

However, since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, Korean players have also faltered. They won 7 times in both 2020 and 2021, but only 4 times last year. Korea was once a country admired by female players worldwide. There was a craze of "I want to resemble Korean players. I want to learn their training methods." But the trend has changed. A time has come when Korea must strive harder.

This year, there is no absolute powerhouse on the LPGA Tour. The only players with multiple wins are Ko Jin-young and Lilia Vu (USA). Previously dominant players like Nelly Korda (USA), Lydia Ko (New Zealand), and Minjee Lee (Australia) have yet to win. The surge of lesser-known 'unknown players' is strong. Among the 11 champions this year, as many as 5 are first-time winners. They include Lilia Vu, Lin Xiyu (China), Grace Kim (Australia), Pajaree Anannarukarn (Thailand), and Rose Zhang (USA). A new winner emerges at every tournament.

Korea still fields a large contingent on the LPGA Tour this year. Although 'Golf Empress' Park In-bee is resting after childbirth, 23 players including Ko Jin-young, Kim Hyo-joo, Jeon In-ji, Yoo Hae-ran, Yang Hee-young, and Choi Hye-jin are active on the regular tour. It is regrettable that star players who have previously achieved good results, such as Kim Sei-young (12 wins), Park Sung-hyun (7 wins), Ji Eun-hee (6 wins), Kim Hyo-joo (5 wins), and Jeon In-ji (4 wins; all career wins), remain 'winless'. Young talents like Lee Jeong-eun 6, Kim A-rim, Choi Hye-jin, An Na-rin, and Yoo Hae-ran have also failed to deliver the expected results.

Rose Jang caused an "unknown storm" by winning her debut match immediately after turning professional.

Another factor is that Korean players do not prefer the LPGA Tour. The Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour is being held this year with 32 tournaments and a total prize money of 31.1 billion won, the largest scale ever. The average prize money per tournament is about 970 million won. An environment where players can enjoy wealth and fame domestically has been established. Since Lee Jeong-eun 6, who dominated the KLPGA Tour, won the 2019 U.S. Women's Open, there have been no 'rookie winner' news on the U.S. stage.

This year, the LPGA Tour is held with the help of the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour and the United States Golf Association (USGA), with 33 tournaments and total prize money of 101.4 million dollars (about 130.8 billion won). For the first time in history, the total prize money for a single season exceeded 100 million dollars. However, there is no guarantee that domestic players will achieve good results, and after taxes and expenses, there is little profit. Korean players have no reason to endure hardships by going to the LPGA Tour.

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