Lee Ye-won (20, KB Financial Group) is trying to defend the title and win four games of the season.
The 24th Hite Jinro Championship (total prize money of 1.5 billion won and winning prize money of 270 million won), the last major competition on the KLPGA Tour in 2024 season, will kick off at the Blue Heron Golf Club (par 72/6763 yards) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province for four days from the 3rd.
Lee Ye-won, who won the tournament last year, aims to win four games of the season with a title defense.
Lee became the first player to secure three wins in this season, ranking first in grand prize points and first in prize money. However, Park Hyun-kyung (24, Korea Land Trust), Park Ji-young (28, Korea Land Trust), and Bae So-hyun (32, FromBio) have achieved three wins in succession in this season, falling behind to fourth in grand prize points and fourth in prize money in competition for the title category.
If Lee Ye-won succeeds in defending the title in this competition, she will become the sole leader in multiple wins again, and can set the stage for the chase in the competition for the grand prize point and prize money.
“I want to play without regret so that I can defend the title with good memories of winning the title last year,” Lee said. “It’s really hard when I join the rough. I’m going to focus on my shots so that I can keep the fairway.”
The most important hole to watch out for was the 16th hole, the only par-three hole in Heren’s Pick. In fact, Lee Ye-won has never made a birdie in the 16th hole in the past two years when she participated in the main competition, but has recorded only two bogeys. “It’s the par-three 16th hole, but the distance is long, and I think it’s the hole that you have to be most careful about because if you go out of the green, there’s a penalty area right away,” Lee Ye-won said.
However, in order for Lee Ye-won to succeed in defending the title, he must overcome competition with outstanding players.
Madasom (25, Samchully), who achieved two career wins at the Hana Financial Group Championship held last week, is aiming to win for the second consecutive week.
Madasom said, “I paid attention to the size and tempo of the swing, and the direction of the driver improved very much, and I think I showed a good performance as my iron shot became sharp. As I have a good sense of shot, I will try to maintain this sense as much as possible so that I can perform well this week,” adding, “I will forget last week’s victory. I will go back to my original intention and play with confidence, and I will do my best to achieve my goal of one more win.”
Expectations are also high on the performances of the players who have become major queens this season. Starting with Lee Jung-min (32), the winner of the 46th KLPGA Championship held at the first major tournament of the 2024 season, Noh Seung-hee (23), the winner of the 38th Korean Women’s Open Golf Championship of the DB Group, Park Ji-young, who is the winner of the Hanwha Classic 2024 and is showing the best performance this season, and rookie Yoo Hyun-jo (19, Samchully), who won the KB Financial Star Championship last month, are all in the running.
Yoon Na-na (21, Hite Jinro) and Kim Min-byeol (20, Hite Jinro) are also determined to participate in the competition, which is hosted by the sponsor. “I am excited and look forward to participating in the main sponsor competition for the first time. I will do my best to show better performances,” Yoon said.
“In this course, which is famous for its long rough and narrow fairways, I try to solve it safely rather than aggressive play,” Yoon-na said, adding, “I want to do well, but I will put down my greed and do my best every moment with a humble mind to make a game without regret.”
In addition, Park Hyun-kyung, Bae So-hyun, who has three wins this season, Kim Soo-ji (28, Dongbu Construction), and Park Min-ji (26, NH Investment & Securities), who have won the Hite Jinro Championship, are also aiming for the championship trophy.
Hosted by Hite Jinro and organized by KLPGT, the competition will be broadcast live on SBS Golf, Naver, Daum Kakao, Kakao VX, U+Mobile TV, and A-Dot, and the second round of the competition will also be available on SBS terrestrial channels.
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