Top golfers head to Cheongna for 2022 Hana Championship

Golf

Published: 28 Sep. 2022, 14:00

Top golfers head to Cheongna for 2022 Hana Championship

Minjee Lee of Australia plays her iron during the first round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G at Pinnacle Country Club on Sep. 23 in Rogers, Arkansas. [AFP/YONHAP]

Kim Hyo-joo plays her tee shot on the 15th hole during the second round of the 77th U.S. Women's Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club on June 03 in Southern Pines, North Carolina. [AFP/YONHAP]

The KLPGA Tour heads to Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon this week for the 24th tournament of the season, the Hana Financial Group Championship.

A total of 108 golfers will make up the field at this year's edition of the Hana Championship, competing for a record purse of 1.5 billion won ($1 million), a new Tour record pot, with the winner taking 270 million won.

Since 2020, the Hana Championship has also been part of the Ladies Asian Tour (LAT) series organized by the Asian Golf Leaders Forum (AGLF).

With the biggest purse on the Tour, the results could cause a major shift in the year-long money rankings. But not all 108 players will have a shot at a share of the winnings, as there will be a cut after the first two rounds with only the top 60 players continuing.

Not only does it have the biggest pot on the Tour this season, but this year's Hana Championship will also tee off with a gallery for the first time in three years following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

Heating up the competition for the trophy is the addition of LPGA golfers world No. 4 Minjee Lee of Australia, No. 9 Kim Hyo-joo and No. 30 Patty Tavataknakit of Thailand.

Top-ranked golfer Lee will be looking to find her form back this week after missing the cut at the last two events, the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G and the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. Her form was already slipping before those two tournaments, as she tied for 49th at the Dana Open in the first week of September.

Despite the disappointing run, Lee had started her season off with a tied runner-up finish at the HSBC Women's World Championship in March, then added two wins this season with the Cognizant Founders Cup in May and the U.S. Women's Open in June. Lee added a second runner-up finish at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

Lee will be looking for some redemption this week, especially after narrowly missing out on last season's Hana Championship trophy by losing a playoff against KLPGA golfer Song Ga-eun.

Kim Hyo-joo tees off the eighth tee during the final round of The Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club on April 16 in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. [AFP/YONHAP]

Kim Hyo-joo returns to Korea after spending a good season on the LPGA Tour despite slipping in her last tournament and missing the cut at the Kroger Queen City Championship in September.

Before that, Kim Hyo-joo had tied for 13th at the Dana Open and tied for 15th at the AIG Women's Open. Her form peaked in June and July, when she tied for fifth at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and for third at her next two events, the Amundi Evian Championship and Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open.

Kim Hyo-joo currently has one win this season, topping the leaderboard at the Lotte Championship in April.

This is Kim Hyo-joo's second week playing a KLPGA Tour event in Korea, after failing to defend her title at the OKSavingsBank Se Ri Pak Invitational last week. Despite suffering from muscle cramps throughout the event, she managed to finish at six-under-par, 210, to tie for 11th.

"My muscle cramps are getting better but I am not completely recovered," said Kim on Tuesday. "I am focusing more on recovery than my shots. I think playing on the KLPGA Tour is always so fun. I want to play well this week and try to play a match that is satisfying for myself and also for my fans who are rooting for me."

Patty Tavatanakit tees off from the 15th tee during the first round of the LPGA's Palos Verdes Championship golf tournament on Thursday, April 28 in Palos Verdes Estates, California. [AP/YONHAP]

Tavatanakit of Thailand will be looking for her first title of the season at the Hana Championship as she tries to cut a rough streak that has seen her miss the cut in seven of her last eight competitions. Her best result was tying for fourth at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony in February and at the Chevron Championship in March.

Park Min-ji tees off on the 10th hole during the first round of the OKSavingsBank Se Ri Pak Invitational on Sep. 23 at Serenity Country Club in Chungju, North Chungcheong. [KLPGA]

From the KLPGA Tour, Park Min-ji, who currently tops the money list, will be looking to add her fifth title of the season.

Park won her first title of the season in May at the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship, then, after winning her second in June at the Celltrion Queens Masters, Park won her third title two weeks later at the BC Card Hankyung Ladies Cup. Park's fourth title came just two weeks ago at the KB Financial Group STAR Championship.

Song Ga-eun tees off on the first hole of during the third round of the KB Financial Group Star Championship at Blackstone Golf Club in Icheon, Gyeonggi on Sep. 23. [KLPGA]

Alongside Park, defending champion Song also has her eyes fixed on the trophy, especially as this week will be the first time in her career that she has tried to defend a title.

Last year, rookie Song burst onto the scene with her first KLPGA title at the Hana Championship.

It was only after playing a sudden-death playoff against top-ranked Lee at Pocheon Adonis Country Club in Pocheon, Gyeonggi that Song was able to take her maiden title.

Song has one win this season, having won the Daebo hausD Open this July.

"My driver and irons are not at their best lately," said Song on Tuesday. "But I am trying to stick to the fundamentals and bring my form back. I think its getting better so I am looking forward to this week's tournament."

Kim Su-ji, who won the OKSavingsBank Se Ri Pak Invitational for her first title of this season on Sunday, hopes to continue that form into this week.

"It's only been a week since the last win so I think I am a bit flustered and physically exhausted," said Kim Su-ji. "But I feel that my form is good right now and that I could try to win for the second week in a row."

After missing the cut on her first event of this season in April at the Lotte Rent-a-Car Open, Kim Su-ji has made it to the end of every other event she has competed in and has marked 11 top-10 finishes since.

"I think my shot technique is getting better," said Kim Su-ji. "That's probably why I was able to get good results this season. As the Hana Championship this year is held on a different golf course, if I prepare well before the tournament and try to learn the course better I think I can expect good results."

Golfers tee off Thursday at Bear's Best Cheongna and the tournament will continue through Sunday.

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