ID :
211024
Tue, 10/04/2011 - 10:02
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https://oananews.org//node/211024
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(LEAD) LPGA Tour makes annual stop in S. Korea this week with top golfers
(ATTN: ADDS byline, golfers' comments throughout; CHANGES dateline)
By Yoo Jee-ho
INCHEON, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- The LPGA Tour makes its annual stop in South Korea this week with some of its top-ranked golfers.
The LPGA Hana Bank Championship will take place from Friday to Sunday at the par-72 Ocean Course of the Sky72 Golf Club in Incheon, just west of Seoul. This is the 10th edition of the only LPGA Tour event in South Korea each year.
Two-time defending champion Choi Na-yeon is among the field of 69 players at the three-round competition with no cut. Since the event was inaugurated in 2002 under a different corporate sponsorship, South Koreans have won seven of the nine tournaments.
The winner will earn US$270,000.
Choi is coming off a runner-up finish at a Korean LPGA event last weekend and said she expects big things out of herself this weekend, too.
"I have fond memories of this golf course, and I feel very much at home here," Choi said at a press conference held at the golf club. "Obviously, there's the pressure to win for the third straight time, but I'd rather have pressure to deal with than not. I hope I can use that to my advantage."
World No. 1 Yani Tseng will look to foil Choi's bid for a third consecutive title. Tseng, a 22-year-old from Taiwan, has won five times in 2011, including two of the LPGA's four major championships.
Tseng said she is "always very happy and excited to be competing with Korean players" and added, "If I don't win, I'd be very happy to see them win here."
The tournament has consistently attracted top-10 caliber players, and this year is no exception. The field this week also features Suzann Pettersen and Cristie Kerr, ranked second and third in the world, plus fan favorite Michelle Wie, a Korean-American youngster known for her prodigious length off the tee.
Wie, both of whose parents are Korean, said it would "mean the world to me" to win on Korean soil. Her two career LPGA wins have come in Mexico and Canada.
"It'd be a great honor to win, especially with so many great players in the field here," Wie added in Korean.
Shin Ji-yai, former No. 1 player, is returning from a back injury and is making her first appearance in more than a month. She said she used that extended layoff to look back on her career and also to make small changes to her game.
"I have never taken so much time off during a season," Shin said. "I am looking forward to seeing how my body will respond. I feel refreshed. I just have to go out there and prove that I haven't wasted my time."
South Korean players have dominated the LPGA Tour in recent years, but only one Korean has notched a win so far this year. Ryu So-yeon edged compatriot Seo Hee-kyung at the U.S. Women's Open in July.
Over the past two seasons, South Koreans have combined for 22 wins.
The Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course will play at 6,364 yards. It has hosted this championship every year since 2008.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
(END)
By Yoo Jee-ho
INCHEON, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- The LPGA Tour makes its annual stop in South Korea this week with some of its top-ranked golfers.
The LPGA Hana Bank Championship will take place from Friday to Sunday at the par-72 Ocean Course of the Sky72 Golf Club in Incheon, just west of Seoul. This is the 10th edition of the only LPGA Tour event in South Korea each year.
Two-time defending champion Choi Na-yeon is among the field of 69 players at the three-round competition with no cut. Since the event was inaugurated in 2002 under a different corporate sponsorship, South Koreans have won seven of the nine tournaments.
The winner will earn US$270,000.
Choi is coming off a runner-up finish at a Korean LPGA event last weekend and said she expects big things out of herself this weekend, too.
"I have fond memories of this golf course, and I feel very much at home here," Choi said at a press conference held at the golf club. "Obviously, there's the pressure to win for the third straight time, but I'd rather have pressure to deal with than not. I hope I can use that to my advantage."
World No. 1 Yani Tseng will look to foil Choi's bid for a third consecutive title. Tseng, a 22-year-old from Taiwan, has won five times in 2011, including two of the LPGA's four major championships.
Tseng said she is "always very happy and excited to be competing with Korean players" and added, "If I don't win, I'd be very happy to see them win here."
The tournament has consistently attracted top-10 caliber players, and this year is no exception. The field this week also features Suzann Pettersen and Cristie Kerr, ranked second and third in the world, plus fan favorite Michelle Wie, a Korean-American youngster known for her prodigious length off the tee.
Wie, both of whose parents are Korean, said it would "mean the world to me" to win on Korean soil. Her two career LPGA wins have come in Mexico and Canada.
"It'd be a great honor to win, especially with so many great players in the field here," Wie added in Korean.
Shin Ji-yai, former No. 1 player, is returning from a back injury and is making her first appearance in more than a month. She said she used that extended layoff to look back on her career and also to make small changes to her game.
"I have never taken so much time off during a season," Shin said. "I am looking forward to seeing how my body will respond. I feel refreshed. I just have to go out there and prove that I haven't wasted my time."
South Korean players have dominated the LPGA Tour in recent years, but only one Korean has notched a win so far this year. Ryu So-yeon edged compatriot Seo Hee-kyung at the U.S. Women's Open in July.
Over the past two seasons, South Koreans have combined for 22 wins.
The Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course will play at 6,364 yards. It has hosted this championship every year since 2008.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
(END)
