Reigning champion Ko Jin-young to miss Portland Classic

Choi Hye-jin tees off on the seventh hole during the second round of the Dana Classic LPGA golf tournament on Sept. 2 at the Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio. [AP/YONHAP]

The 2022 AmazingCre Portland Classic tees off Thursday at Portland Oregon with 14 Korean golfers throwing their hats into the field.

First played in 1972, the Portland Classic is the longest-standing non-major LPGA event on the Tour. This year marks the 35th time the event will be played at the classic Columbia Edgewater. The last time it was played at Columbia Edgewater was in 2020, when English golfer Georgia Hall earned her second LPGA Tour title after a two-hole playoff with 2022 major champion Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa.

In 2021, the Portland Classic was played at Oregon Golf Club where current world No. 1 Ko Jin-young beat countrywoman Lee Jeong-eun by four strokes after the tournament was reduced to 54 holes due to severe storms.

However, Ko will not be defending her title in the Pacific Northwest this week after announcing Tuesday that she will be out for several weeks due to injury.

“According to her management, Jin-young is sitting out the next few weeks under medical advisement for ‘an overworked wrist.’ She hopes to return at the BMW Ladies Championship,” read a prepared statement from the LPGA Tour on Tuesday.

Ko failed to make the cut in her two previous starts at the AIG Women’s Open and the CP Women’s Open. Ko is the defending Rolex LPGA Player of the Year and so far has one win at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, three top-five finishes and a tie for eighth at the Amundi Evian Championship.

Last year was the second in a row that the Portland Classic was shortened. In 2020, smoke from nearby wildfires shortened the event, while in 2021 it was cut down due to severe storms.

This year, the Portland Classic looks to return to full form for its 51st competition. The field is led by No. 2 Nelly Korda of the United States and No. 5 Brooke Henderson of Canada and also includes four past Portland champions, including two-time winner Henderson and 2019 champion Hannah Green of Australia who is the last champion to have won the title after 72 holes.

LPGA rookie Choi Hye-jin leads the 14-women Korean contingent. Choi goes into the Portland Classic in good form after tying for 14th at the Kroger Queen City Championship last week.

Choi only joined the LPGA Tour this year, after finishing tied for eighth in the LPGA Q-Series last December to join An Na-rin and Hong Ye-eun in qualifying for the Tour.

Choi has not missed a single cut in her 20 competitions this season, with 15 top-10 finishes including a tied runner-up finish at the CP Women’s Open in August, a third-place finish at the U.S. Women's Open this June and another third-place finish at the Lotte Championship in April.

The 13 other Korean golfers teeing off Thursday alongside Choi are rookies An and Hong, Lee, Park Sung-hyun, Jenny Shin, Ryu So-yeon, Lee Mi-hyang, Chella Choi, Ji Eun-hee, Choi Na-yeon, Kim A-lim, Kim Min-G, Kwak Min-seo and Lee Il-hee.

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