KLPGA star Yoon Ina to make LPGA debut at Founders Cup

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KLPGA star Yoon Ina to make LPGA debut at Founders Cup

Yoon Ina hits a shot during the Dukshin EPC-Seoul Economics Ladies Classic in Yongin, Gyeonggi on Oct. 26, 2024. [NEWS1]

Yoon Ina hits a shot during the Dukshin EPC-Seoul Economics Ladies Classic in Yongin, Gyeonggi on Oct. 26, 2024. [NEWS1]

 
KLPGA star Yoon Ina, who was once banned in Korea for playing the wrong ball, will make her LPGA debut on Thursday at the Founders Cup at the Bradenton Country Club in Florida.
 

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Yoon, 21, has headed to the United States to play in the tournament sponsored by the U.S. Virgin Islands after earning her Tour card as the top Korean finisher in the LPGA Q-Series in December.
 
She joins a competitive 120-player field following a stellar 2024 KLPGA campaign, where she led in prize money, held the lowest average strokes and accumulated the most Wemade points — awarded to golfers with top-10 finishes in KLPGA events.  
 
Yoon's return to competitive play has been seamless despite a lengthy ban. She was initially handed a three-year suspension from the Korea Golf Association (KGA) and KLPGA in 2022 after playing the wrong ball during the DB Group Korea Women's Open Golf Championship in June of that year.  
 
Playing the wrong ball means that after her tee shot, Yoon continued to play the hole with another ball — presumably one that fell in a more advantageous position than her own — to finish the hole.
 
The KGA reduced her suspension to 18 months in September 2023, but the KLPGA at the time upheld the initial punishment, making her ineligible to participate in KLPGA events until halfway through the 2025 season. 
 
However, the KLPGA reversed that decision in January 2024 and reduced the ban to 18 months, making her eligible to compete in the 2024 KLPGA season.  
 
Yoon will compete alongside Korean LPGA veterans, including 15-time winner Ko Jin-young and six-time champion Kim Hyo-joo.    


Ko Jin-young tees off on the first hole during the final round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 2. [AP/YONHAP]

Ko Jin-young tees off on the first hole during the final round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 2. [AP/YONHAP]

 
Ko is eyeing a record fourth Founders Cup victory. She became the first golfer to win the title three times in 2023, surpassing two-time winner Karrie Webb. Ko has already started the 2025 LPGA season strong, tying for fourth at last week’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
 
A victory by a Korean golfer this week would secure back-to-back titles for Korea, following Kim A-lim's win at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. However, Kim is skipping this week’s event.    
 
Kim Hyo-joo plays her shot from the first tee during the final round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Florida on Feb. 2. [AFP/YONHAP]

Kim Hyo-joo plays her shot from the first tee during the final round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Florida on Feb. 2. [AFP/YONHAP]

 
Korean contenders will face a tougher task as there will be a larger pool of elite golfers as The Founders Cup marks the first full-field competition of the 2025 LPGA season. The Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, held last week, was limited to winners from the past two seasons.
 
The field includes world No. 1 Nelly Korda who is joined by five other top-10 contenders: No. 2 Lydia Ko, No. 6 Hannah Green, No. 8 Ayaka Furue, No. 9 Charley Hull and No. 10 Celine Boutier.
 
Korda joins this week’s field in good form, having finished as runner-up last week. The world No. 1 showcased an outstanding performance last season where she secured the most titles with seven.  
 
World No. 2 Ko also showcased a strong performance in last week’s tournament by finishing sixth, which followed after her successful 2024 season when she clinched three LPGA titles alongside a gold medal at the Paris Olympics that allowed her to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.  
 
In addition to Yoon, Ko and Kim, 11 other Korean competitors — Im Jin-hee, Lee Mi-hyang, Lee So-mi, Chun In-gee, Park Sung-hyun, Lee Jeong-eun6, Jang Hyo-joon, Jeon Ji-won, Ji Eun-hee, Park Kum-kang and Joo Soo-bin — will compete for the winner's prize of $300,000 from a total purse of $2 million.
 
Korean golfers are on a quest to restore the country’s success on the Tour this year after a disappointing 2024 season where they secured just three titles across 35 tournaments — the fewest in 13 years.  
 
Jeon Ji-won will be the first Korean to tee off on Thursday at 7:37 a.m., alongside Cheyenne Knight from the United States and Wei-Ling Hsu from Taiwan.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
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