“I want my name engraved on the U.S. Women’s Open trophy.”
Founded in 1946 by the United States Golf Association (USGA), the U.S. Women’s Open has a tradition of engraving the names of past winners on the trophy. From the first winner, Patti Berg, to the 2022 winner, Minjee Lee. The trophy also features the names of nine Koreans. Since Park Se-ri, 46, unveiled her famous “white bare feet” to become the first Korean winner (1998), Kim Joo-yeon, Park In-bee, Ji Eun-hee, Yoo So-yeon, Choi Na-yeon, Jeon Ji-in, Park Sung-hyun, Lee Jeong-hyun, Kim Ah-rim and others have won 10 titles. Park In-bee was crowned champion twice, in 2008 and 2013.
먹튀검증 The U.S. Women’s Open is considered a “door of opportunity” for Korean players, as many of the stars of the Korean Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour’s heyday went on to win the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour. Park Min-ji (25-NH Investment & Securities), Lee So-mi (24-Daebang E&C), and Lee Da-yeon (26-Medi-Hill), who are also playing on the KLPGA Tour this year, left Korea on the first of this month and began training for jet lag and local adaptation.
Park Min-ji said, “I will improve my physical strength with intense weight training before the start of the tournament and make my name known to fans around the world at the US Women’s Open.” This year’s U.S. Women’s Open will be held at the notoriously windy Pebble Beach (par 71-6546). This is the first time the U.S. Women’s Open will be played at Pebble Beach. It’s a links course with long, tough rough that requires a combination of strength and finesse to conquer. On top of that, you have to play the round on foot against the wind, so Park’s concern that “I need to build up my stamina to finish” is not unfounded.
There’s also anticipation. “I can’t wait to play at Pebble Beach again,” Choi said, referring to the prestigious golf course that is more than 100 years old. LPGA Tour stalwarts such as 28-year-old Jin Young Ko (Solaire), who broke the world No. 1 ranking record (159 weeks), Hyo Joo Kim (28, Lotte) and Ji-in Jeon (29, KB Financial Group) will also be in the hunt for the US Women’s Open trophy. “From the beginning of this season, my only goal was to win a major,” said Ko, who emphasized that she has thoroughly conditioned to win a major.
Kim Hyo-joo, who regained her fitness and shot feeling at the KLPGA Tour’s Lotte Open, also said, “It’s meaningful to play a major at Pebble Beach,” and added, “I want to maintain my good memories and good shot feeling in Korea and taste a major championship again.”
Shin Ji-ae (36), who has 64 career victories in Korea, the United States and Japan, will be making her first appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open since 2019. She has 11 wins on the LPGA Tour and two majors, but has never made it to the U.S. Women’s Open. She is determined to prove the health of the Golf Zone by competing against juniors more than 10 years her junior.
As many stars from the LPGA Tour as well as Korea and Japan are participating, it is expected to raise the status of K-golf once again.