KLPGA golfers look for early win at Mediheal Championship

Lee Ye-won plays a shot at the Lotte Rent-a-Car Ladies Open at Lotte Skyhill CC in Seogwipo, Jeju on Sunday. [NEWS1]

The Mediheal & Hankook Ilbo Championship, the second KLPGA event of the 2023 Tour, tees off at Ferrum Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi on Thursday, with 120 golfers looking to take a win in the early days of the season.

The KLPGA resumed last week after a four-month break, with 20-year-old Lee Ye-won winning her debut title at the Lotte Rent-a-Car Ladies Open on Sunday.

“I still can’t believe that I won my first ever title and this competition will be meaningful since I am challenging for my second consecutive title,” Lee said on Tuesday. “I will work to be in the top 10 by staying calm rather than being greedy.”

The Mediheal Championship is a chance for golfers to show improvements in their performance after winter training.

Park Ji-young, who won the inaugural Mediheal Championship last year, joins the field in good form after finishing second to Lee last week.

“This is the competition that I have been waiting for the most this year,” Park said on Tuesday. “The win last season was my first wire-to-wire win and it was special to me, because it was my first time winning a four-round tournament.

“I have never defended my title before and I want to do it in this tournament.”

The race for the rookie award will also be competitive, as prominent rookies Kim Seo-yoon2, Kim Min-byeol, Kim Ka-young, Jeong So-yi, Lee Ji-hyun7 and Kim Min-sun7, are all taking part in the event.

The prize pot for the event is 1 billion won ($756,000), with the winner taking 180 million won ($136,000) and even those golfers that do not make the cut earning 500,000 won.

Choi Min-kyung, paired with Kim Jae-hee and Lee Chae-eun2 will be the first to tee off on the first hole at 7 a.m., the same time that Jung Ji-min2, Kim Ji-young2 and Chung Si-woo start on the 10th hole.

Lee Ye-won and Park Ji-young will start together at 12:25 p.m., also on the first hole.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]