SEOUL, Oct 14 (Yonhap/APP): The LPGA Tour will make its annual stop in South Korea this week, with a scenic course on the country’s southern coast hosting major champions and homegrown stars over four days.
The sixth edition of the BMW Ladies Championship will start Thursday at Pine Beach Golf Links in Haenam, some 330 kilometers south of Seoul in South Jeolla Province.
There will be no cut in the 72-hole tournament featuring 78 players, who will vie for the US$2.3 million purse. The champion will take home $345,000.
This will be the first edition held at Pine Beach Golf Links, famous for having several greens and tee boxes sitting along the beach and atop seaside cliffs. It has long been regarded as one of the best courses in South Korea thanks to its scenic backdrop and the challenges it presents with sloping fairways and intimidating bunkers.
The LPGA and BMW Korea have moved the tournament around the country since the southeastern port city of Busan held the first two editions in 2019 and 2021. The 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament was held in Wonju, about 85 km east of Seoul, in 2022, before Paju, northwest of Seoul, hosted the next two editions.
A South Korean player won each of the first two editions, Jang Hana in 2019 and Ko Jin-young in 2021, and then two players of Korean descent, Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Minjee Lee of Australia, were the champions in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Last year, another Australian player, Hannah Green, won for the first time in South Korea.
Green is back this week as she tries to become the first repeat champion of the tournament. She is one of three former champions in the field, joined by Lee and Ko Jin-young.
Lee, who won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June, is also one of four players with a major title this season, alongside U.S. Women’s Open champion Maja Stark, Amundi Evian Championship winner Grace Kim and AIG Women’s Open champ Miyu Yamashita.
The South Korean contingent, in addition to Ko Jin-young, world No. 18 with two major titles, will feature Kim Hyo-joo, the top-ranked South Korean player at No. 8; Ryu Hae-ran, world No. 12 and the 2023 LPGA Rookie of the Year; and Kim A-lim, the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open champion.
Kim Hyo-joo, Kim A-lim and Ryu have all won an LPGA tournament this season, while Ko will be seeking her first title since May 2023.