Veteran golfer Shin Ji-yai looks for fourth title at TOTO Japan Classic

Shin Ji-yai tees off on the third hole during the second round of the U.S. Women's Open at the Country Club of Charleston, South Carolina on May 31, 2019. [USA TODAY/YONHAP]

A total of 10 Koreans will tee off in Japan on Thursday for the first round of the TOTO Japan Classic as the historic event returns to the LPGA Tour for a 45th edition.

The Japan Classic is co-sanctioned by the LPGA and JLPGA, which is the second most lucrative tour in the world after the LPGA.

This year is technically the 50th edition of the Japan Classic, but only the 45th on the LPGA Tour. It was an unofficial event from 1973 to 1975 and was contested as a JLPGA-only event in 2020 and 2021.

The Japan Classic will be played at the Seta Golf Course in Shiga, Japan as a 72-hole event for the first time ever, after previously only being 54 holes.

Of the total 78 golfers competing for an increased purse of $2 million, 36 are JLPGA players.

Korean veteran golfer Shin Ji-yai is one of those joining the field on Thursday.

Before competing in the JLPGA, Shin was one of the early golfers to pave the way for Korean golf.

After debuting professionally on the KLPGA Tour in 2006, Shin has 21 KLPGA titles, 26 JLPGA titles and 11 LPGA titles to her name.

She still holds a record nine wins in a single season on the KLPGA Tour, a feat she achieved just two years after her debut.

In her third year as a professional golfer, she won all three KLPGA majors in the 2008 season then went on to add three LPGA titles that year as an invited player at the Ricoh Women’s British Open, Mizuno Classic and ADT Championship.

Shin debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2009, winning three titles that year to win the Rookie of the Year title and top the money standings.

She started spending more time on the Japan Tour starting from 2014 and her latest win was in 2021 at the Daito Kentaku Eheyanet Ladies. Shin has won the TOTO Japan Classic twice as an LPGA event, in 2008 and 2010, also picking up the title when it was a JLPGA-only event in 2020.

Alongside the veteran, Bae Seon-woo, Lee Min-young, Jeon Mi-jeong and Hwang Au-reum all compete on the JLPGA Tour and will be teeing off Thursday.

With all Korean golfers within the top 30 in the world sitting out the Japan classic, LPGA rookie Choi Hye-jin will be trying to continue her clutch form from the recent BMW Championship in Korea, where she tied for third.

LPGA golfer Lee Jeong-eun will also be seeking her first title this season. Lee last week tied for sixth place at the KLPGA Tour’s SK Networks Seoul Economics Ladies Classic.

Newly named world No. 1 Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand will also be playing her first event as the top player, while No. 4 Minjee Lee of Australia has also thrown her hat into the ring as the second-highest ranked golfer in the field.

The Japan Classic is the third-to-last event of the season and the penultimate chance for golfers to add points to their Race to the CME Globe points standings.

The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long points competition where LPGA golfers accumulate points at every official event to enter the season-ending championship, the CME Group Tour Championship. Following the penultimate Pelican Women's Championship next week, the CME Championship field will be set at the top 60 players in the Race to the CME Globe points standings.

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