Ko Jin-young leads strong Korean contingent at Scottish Open

Golf

Published: 27 Jul. 2022, 15:36 Updated: 27 Jul. 2022, 16:24

Ko Jin-young leads strong Korean contingent at Scottish Open

Ko Jin-young competes in the Evian Championship in the French Alps town of Evian-les-Bains, France on July 23. [AFP/YONHAP]

Chun In-gee competes in the Evian Championship in the French Alps town of Evian-les-Bains, France on July 22. [AFP/YONHAP]

Kim Hyo-joo competes competes in the Evian Championship in the French Alps town of Evian-les-Bains, France on July 23. [AFP/YONHAP]

World No. 1 Ko Jin-young leads a 16-women Korean contingent at the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open teeing off at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland on Thursday.

The LPGA Tour continues its European swing after the season's fourth major, the Amundi Evian Championship, at the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland.

The competition for the trophy will be competitive, with two of the five previous winners in the field. Defending champion Ryann O'Toole and 2018 champion Ariya Jutanugarn will be teeing off Thursday, looking to repeat their past success.

Ko leads the seven top 10 golfers on the Rolex Rankings competing, followed by No. 2 U.S. Women's Open winner Lee Min-jee and No. 4 Lydia Ko of New Zealand.

In addition to Ko, who won the HSBC Women's World Championship in March, Kim Hyo-joo, who won the Lotte Championship in April, and Chun In-gee, who won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship just a month ago, will be looking for their second wins of the season.

Not only will they be hunting for their second titles, but the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open will also serve as an opportunity for golfers to warm up ahead of the next tournament, the AIG Women's Open which is the last major of the season.

Kim will be looking to repeat last week's form when she narrowly missed out on winning and finished tied for third at the Amundi Evian Championship, two strokes behind Brooke Henderson of Canada, who won the trophy.

For Chun, who snapped a four year dry spell on June 26 winning the Women's PGA Championship, the Women's Scottish Open could be a chance to ready herself to win a second major at the AIG Women's Open and achieve a career grand slam.

A grand slam in golf is the achievement of winning four of five majors at any point during a player's career. Chun has won three out of the five LPGA majors, having won the U.S. Women's Open in 2015 and the Evian Championship in 2016 and the KPMG Women's PGA Championship this season. Winning the AIG Women's Open in August would earn her that title.

Alongside Ko, Kim and Chun, Kang Hye-ji, Kim Sei-young, Kim A-lim, Kim In-kyung, Park In-bee, An Na-rin, Yang Hee-young, Lee Jeong-eun5, Lee Jeong-eun6, Jenny Shin, Ji Eun-hee, Chello Choi and Choi Hye-jin will be teeing off at Dundonald Links, Ayrshire, Scotland.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]