Lee Ye-won seeks third career win at High1 Open as Han Jin-seon aims to defend tour title

Lee Ye-won hits a shot during the Jeju Samdasoo Masters at Black Stone Golf & Resort in Jeju on Aug. 3. [KLPGA]

Lee Ye-won, fresh off her second victory in her career at the Doosan E&C We’ve Championship last week, will be competing at the High 1 Resort Ladies Open teeing off Thursday at High 1 Country Club in Jeongseon County, Gangwon, to ride her current momentum.

Lee, 20, is the current No. 2 on the K-Rankings — a system that marks the ranking of female golfers on the KLPGA Tour — with 487.2 points as of Wednesday. She is also the golfer who won the most prize money at around 725 million won ($542,000), which she accumulated after competing in 17 KLGPA events this season.

The 20-year-old started the 2023 season in a perfect fashion by winning the Lotte Rent-a-Car Ladies Open — the season’s first tournament — in April.

“I do not have any problems with stamina since the second half [of the season] started recently,” Lee said in a pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday. “My shots feel even better as I secured the victory. Since the golf course is where my shot accuracy is important, I will work to make sure my tee shots hit the fairway.”

The High 1 Country Club is the highest golf course in Korea, located at 1,136 meters (3,727 feet) on Mount Baekwoon. The course has hosted the KLPGA event since 2009.

KLPGA’s winningest golfer Park Min-ji with 18 titles, also joins the 120-player field to claim her third trophy of the season and redeem herself from the previous two KLPGA events, where she failed to make the cut.

Park’s last victory was at the BC Card Hankyung Ladies Cup in June.

Defending champion Han Jin-seon, on the other hand, will be on the field to secure her first title of the season.

“I’ve been waiting and dreaming for the moment to defend my title since the season began,” Han said. “I, unfortunately, did not talk about my parents in an interview after winning the event last year, but I want to dedicate the honor to my parents if I manage the title defense.”

Uhm Kyu-won paired with Kwak Bo-mi and Youn Sun-jeung will be the first to tee off on the first hole at 7 a.m., the same time Kim Ree-an, Shin Ji-won2 and Lee Ji-hyun7 start on the 10th hole.

Park Min-ji will then tee off on the 10th hole alongside Danielle Kang — an invitee from the United States — and Im Jin-hee at 8:35 a.m., followed by Lee Ye-won on the first hole with Han and Park Hyun-kyung at 12:25 p.m.

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