The Korea Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour gives seed for the following year only when it is within the 60th place in the prize money ranking every year.
Unless you are a player who has been seeded for 2 years by winning, players in the 60th place in the prize money rankings at the end of the season should have a blood-drying experience.
Seo Eo-jin, a former member of the national team, finished the season at 61st in the prize money rankings last year when he was a rookie, so he lost his seed and had to play the seed match again.
The difference in prize money between Jeong Ji-min, who finished in 60th place, is only 298,547 million won.스포츠토토
If he had earned 300,000 won more, Seo Hae-jin could have secured this year’s seed without playing in the seed match.
Knowing the importance of one stroke better than anyone else, Seo Hae-jin focused on increasing the distance and changing the trajectory of the backswing in winter training to improve accuracy.
The training went well as scheduled, and the flight distance increased by about 10m compared to last year, and the short game skill improved remarkably.
However, Seo Eo-jin, who was eliminated from the cut at the Lotte Rent-A-Car Women’s Open before the opening in Korea, suffered a slump of 56th place – missed the cut – missed the cut.
Seo Eo-jin, who set the mood with a tie for 12th at the Kyochon Honey Ladies Open, which ended on the 7th, scored 6 under par 66 in the first round of the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship (total prize money of 800 million won) held at the Suwon Country Club New Course (par 72) in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 12th. He hit and tied for the lead.
He played a clean game, catching 6 birdies without a single bogey.
Accurate shots that missed the green only three times, and a near-perfect short game and green play were outstanding.
On this day, Seo Hae-jin only averaged 1.6 putts when hitting the green, and the total number of putts was only 27.
Seo Hae-jin said, “It’s been a while since I played overall shots, especially iron shots and putts, to my liking. I’m satisfied.”
Seo Eo-jin, who took the opportunity to shake off his sluggish performance and aim for his first championship in his life, confessed, “In fact, as competitions that have unfortunately missed the cut continued, I became obsessed with what to do if I did not pass the cut.”
Prior to the Kyochon Honey Ladies Open, Seo Eo-jin, who said that the result was better when he entered the tournament with a higher goal than passing the cut, pledged, “Rather than thinking about winning, I will play tomorrow with the same mindset as today.”
Park Ji-young looking at the green.
[Courtesy of KLPGA. Resale and DB prohibited]
Park Ji-young, who ranked first in prize money, also hit 6-under-par 66 without a bogey, starting her second win of the season following the season opener Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open held in December last year.
Lim Jin-hee, who has two wins in her career, and Ko Ji-won, a rookie, and Choi Ye-bon, a sophomore in the second year, also joined in the joint lead after reducing 6 strokes.
Lee Da-yeon, winner of the KLPGA Championship, Choi Eun-woo, who won her first career victory at the Nexen/Saint Nine Masters, and Jang Su-yeon followed with a 5 under par 67 strokes.
Park Hyun-kyung shot a 4-under 68, and Kim Su-ji had a good first day with a 3-under 69.
Defending champion Park Min-ji, who is aiming for her 5th consecutive victory in a single event on the KLPGA tour, hit a 2 under par 70.