LPGA Tour returns to the U.S…. Ko Jin-young challenges for first win of season｜Dong-A Ilbo

After wrapping up its schedule in Europe, the LPGA Tour will return to the United States to continue its season.

The LPGA Tour will hold the FM Championship at TPC Boston (par 72) in Norton, Massachusetts, the United States, starting on the 29th (Korea time). Following the Paris Olympics held in France this month, LPGA Tour players returned to the United States after completing the ISPS Handa Women’s Open and AIG Women’s Open (major events) held in Scotland.

The FM Championship is the first new event added to the LPGA Tour this season, with a total prize money of $3.8 million (about 5.05 billion won). This is the largest total prize money outside of the LPGA Tour’s main events and the last event of the season, the CME Group Tour Championship. The total prize money for the major event AIG Women’s Open, which ended on the 26th, was $9.5 million (about 12.64 billion won). The total prize money for the CME Group Tour Championship held in November was $11 million (about 14.64 billion won). The organizers of the FM Championship announced on their website, “We plan to increase the total prize money to $5 million (about 6.65 billion won) by 2028.”

On the 27th, the LPGA Tour selected Ko Jin-young as the player to watch in the FM Championship on its website. The LPGA Tour said, “Ko Jin-young, who was previously ranked first in the women’s golf world, is the most watched player in this tournament,” and added, “Ko Jin-young will challenge for her first win of the season again.”

Ko Jin-young, who has a total of 15 wins on the LPGA Tour (2 major tournament wins), has won the LPGA Tour championship every year from 2017 to last year at the KEB Asiana LPGA Tour held in Korea. In 2017, she won the Bank Championship while participating in the Korea Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour. By winning this tournament, she qualified for the LPGA Tour and made her LPGA Tour debut the following year.

This season, Ko Jin-young has had five top-10 finishes but has not been able to win. At the AIG Women’s Open, the last major tournament of the season, she missed the cut until the second round with a score of 10 over par. As a result, Ko Jin-young’s world ranking dropped from 3rd to 6th. Recently, Ko Jin-young said on her Instagram, “The result of the AIG Women’s Open was very disappointing and made me rethink what golf is. Through this tournament, I realized my strengths and weaknesses in golf.”

Yang Heeyoung, the only Korean player to win an LPGA Tour trophy this year, will be looking for her second win of the season. Heeyoung Yang won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a major tournament in June.

Meanwhile, women’s golf world number one Nelly Korda, second-ranked Lilia Bu (USA) and third-ranked Lydia Go (New Zealand) will take a break and not compete in the FM Championship.