Tour Players' Jinxes... 'Numbers, Colors, Food, and Even Tournaments'

Yoo So-yeon Avoids Golf Ball No. 2, Shin Ji-ae Frequent Substitutions
Woods and Kim Se-young Red, Kremer and Lee Bo-mi Pink
Choi Kyung-ju Eats Breakfast, Park Hee-young Avoids Eggs

Golf is a mental battle. If something feels even slightly off, it is boldly ‘eliminated.’ For various reasons, there are many superstitions in the golf world. Some weekend golfers avoid drinking certain brands of beer out of fear of Out of Bounds (OB). Some golf courses have even served jajangmyeon without onions. This is a story about the superstitions and routines that golfers have.

Yoo So-yeon has a superstition of not using the No. 2 golf ball.
[Photo by LPGA]

There is a golf ball that golfers dislike: number 2. So-Yeon Yu, who plays on the LPGA Tour, does not use the number 2 ball. She said, "I dislike coming in second more than third." The reason players avoid the number 2 ball is that it symbolizes "not wanting to be runner-up and make two putts." Number 4 is avoided in East Asian cultures because it sounds like the word for ‘death.’ It is mostly used during practice. Players want to keep using balls that made birdies. Even if the cover is scratched, they hope the luck continues.

On the other hand, Jiyai Shin pays more attention to the condition of the ball than the number. If there is a scratch, she replaces it with a new ball after finishing the hole. She revealed, "I use about a dozen balls during a round." Even if she makes a hole-in-one or an eagle, she immediately changes the ball if there is any damage. ‘Big Easy’ Ernie Els (South Africa) is also the type who has no attachment to balls. He changes balls after making a birdie, thinking, "This ball has used up its luck."

The number golfers like the most is ‘1,’ which signifies winning. They want to use number 1 balls for golf balls, cars, phone numbers, and more. Number 3 is also popular, symbolizing the desire to make birdies on the most common par-4 holes (14 out of 18 holes). ‘The Wind Man’ Yong-Eun Yang has a special attachment to the number 3 ball after using it when he won the 2009 major PGA Championship. Hyo-Joo Kim and Soon-Sang Hong use balls matching the round number, such as number 1 on the first day and number 2 on the second day. The ‘old golf emperor’ Jack Nicklaus (USA) was famously stubborn about using only number 4 balls.

Tiger Woods always wears a red shirt and black pants on the final day of the tournament.

Some players insist on specific colors. The ‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA) always wears a red shirt on the final 4th round. For players playing alongside Woods, it is a ‘red terror’ time. It is said that his Thai mother, Kultida, heard this winning secret from an astrologer. This became a source of his extraordinary charisma and greatly contributed to his sweeping 82 career wins, including 15 majors. Woods thrived with red but fell with gold. In 2009, a ‘sex scandal’ involving a blonde woman plunged him into a deep crisis.

Se-Young Kim, who has 12 wins on the LPGA Tour, is also a ‘red maniac.’ On the final day, she wears white tops with red pants. ‘Pink Princess’ Paula Creamer (USA) dresses entirely in pink from head to toe. I-Bomi Lee, who recently retired from the Japanese circuit, is also a pink enthusiast. Retired Ha-Neul Kim chooses sky-blue outfits matching her name. Sang-Moon Bae never wears a black hat.

Golfers also pay attention to food. K.J. Choi, born in Wando, enjoys native foods but has a routine of eating Western food on the morning of competition days. ‘Golf legend’ Se-ri Pak avoided eggs before tournaments. Because of the negative meaning of ‘breaking,’ her mother forbade her from eating them since childhood. Hee-Young Park, who still plays on the LPGA Tour, also has an ‘egg superstition.’ Soon-Sang Hong avoids seaweed soup.

Phil Mickelson has not won the US Open, so he has not achieved the 'Career Grand Slam'.

Players also have superstitions about specific tournaments. Arnold Palmer (USA) achieved 62 wins on the PGA Tour but struggled at the major PGA Championship. Despite 37 appearances, he never stood at the top, ultimately missing out on the ‘career grand slam.’ Sam Snead (USA), who shares the PGA Tour record for most wins (82) with Woods, never won the US Open, and Nicklaus never won the Canadian Open.

‘The Great White Shark’ Greg Norman (Australia) was the top star of his era with 94 wins worldwide, including 20 on the PGA Tour, but had little luck in majors, winning only twice at The Open. He was especially unlucky at the Masters. Phil Mickelson (USA) is also a victim of misfortune. Despite 45 career wins including 6 majors, he has never won the US Open, failing to complete the ‘career grand slam.’ He has the unfortunate record of finishing second six times in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2013. Lee Westwood (England) is still without a major title.

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