Chun and Ko join strong field for KPMG Women's PGA Championship

Golf

Published: 21 Jun. 2023, 16:25 Updated: 21 Jun. 2023, 18:36

Chun and Ko join strong field for KPMG Women's PGA Championship

Chun In-gee plays her shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland on June 26, 2022. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship — the second major of the season — tees off Thursday at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey with Chun In-gee looking to defend her title among a 156-strong field of the LPGA's best golfers.

Chun has yet to secure a title this season, with her last victory at the PGA Championship in June last year.

If Chun is able to defend her title, it will also be her first top-10 finish of the season. Her best so far was tied for 18th at the Chevron Championship — the season’s first major.

Chun failed to make the cut at the Meijer LPGA Classic last week.

Her road to title defense, however, will be extremely tough as nine other past champions are joining the event, including world No. 2 Nelly Korda, who won the event in 2021.

Two other Korean golfers — 2020 champion Kim Sei-young and 2018 champion Park Sung-hyun — are also looking to claim their second PGA Championship trophy.

Pak Se-ri and Park In-bee are the most successful Korean golfers at the PGA Championship, with three wins apiece. Pak retired in 2016 and Park has yet to return to the LPGA since giving birth to her daughter in April.

Eleven of this season’s winners will also be competing, including two multi-winners: Ko Jin-young and Lilia Vu of the United States, with two titles apiece.

Ko, who came back strong this season after recovering a wrist injury, won the HSBC Women’s World Championship in March and the Cognizant Founders Cup in May, which allowed her to reclaim the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

Ko Jin-young hits a tee shot on the sixth hole during the final round of the Cognizant Founders Cup at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, New Jersey on May 14. [AFP/YONHAP]

She even tied the record for the most weeks spent at the No. 1 spot — 158 weeks — with former golfer Lorena Ochoa of Mexico on Monday and could set a new record next week.

Ko, a 15-time LPGA winner, even opted to skip the past two tournaments this month in order to improve her form as she looks to secure her third major trophy.

Vu, on the other hand, is looking for her second major title after winning the Chevron Championship in April, but she is not pressured just because it is another major.

“I don’t really like to make a tournament bigger than another,” Vu said during a pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday. “I just go in with the same mindset. I think that helps take pressure off of me, and I just try and focus and play my best and have fun.”

The major winner, however, is still wary of Ko and sees her as the best golfer in the world.

“I played with her at Founders and she didn’t even come close to missing a single shot, putting, ball-striking off the tee, just amazing,” she said. “If you saw her the first two days, she was going to win the tournament anyway. That’s how good she was playing.”

Alongside Chun, Ko, Kim Sei-young and Park Sung-hyun, 14 other Korean golfers join the field: Ryu Hae-ran, Ji Eun-hee, Kim Hyo-joo, Chella Choi, An Na-rin, Kang Hae-ji, Amy Yang, Lee Jeong-eun6, Choi Hye-jin, Jenny Shin, Kim A-lim, Joo Soo-bin, Kim In-kyung and Lee Mi-hyang.

Ko still remains the only Korean to have secured a title this season.

Ryu will be the first Korean to tee off at 7:49 a.m. on the 10th hole with Paula Reto and Jennifer Chang.

Defending champion Chun will then start at 8:17 a.m. alongside Danielle Kang and Hannah Green on the first hole.

No. 1 Ko Jin-young paired with No. 2 Korda and No. 3 Lydia Ko will then start together at 2:01 p.m. on the 10th hole.

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