Even though the defending champion and the strongest golfer in Korea will be away, the cloud gallery is expected to remain the same.

It is the Korea Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour Nexen Saint Nine Masters (total prize money of 800 million won), which is in its 10th year this year. The tournament, held for three days from the 21st at Gaya CC (par 72, 6818 yards) in Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, has established itself as a representative golf event in Boul-Gyeong, attracting 20,000 galleries every year.

This tournament produced star players representing Korean women’s golf, such as Ko Jin-young (28, Solaire), Park Seong-hyeon (30, Solaire), Park Min-ji (25, NH Investment & Securities), and Yoo Hae-ran (22, Daol Financial Group). It is establishing itself as a star cradle.

However, ‘defending champion’ Yoo Hae-ran does not participate in this year’s competition. Yoo Hae-ran, who has been active on the US Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour since her season, will compete at the Cheven Lawn Championship, the first major event of the LPGA Tour season to be held during the same period.

Park Min-ji (25, NH Investment & Securities), who has been on the KLPGA tour for the past two years, has also been absent. Park Min-ji, who finished third at the Mediheal and Hankook Ilbo Championships last week, decided to take a break for a week to focus on the KLPGA Championship, the first major tournament of the KLPGA Tour season to be held next week.

Meanwhile, the strongest candidates for the championship are Park Ji-young (27, Korea Land Trust) and Park Hyun-kyung (23, Korea Land Trust). Park Ji-young won the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open, the KLPGA Tour’s new season opener held in December last year, and was runner-up at the Lotte Rent-A-Car Women’s Open, the domestic opening event held earlier this month.

Park Hyun-kyung, who has a hot sense of shot, can’t be left out, as she won ‘Top 10’ three times out of the four competitions she participated in this season. In particular, Park Hyun-kyung is showing off her persistence by passing cuts in 51 consecutive competitions, from the Celltrion Queens Masters in June 2021 to the Mediheal and Hankook Ilbo Championships last week.

Park Hyun-kyung said,스포츠토토 “I have good shots and putts, and since it is early in the season, I have enough stamina, so I will focus on improving my condition rather than records.” I will give it to you.”

Lee Joo-mi (28, Golden Blue), who tasted the championship at the Mediheal and Hankook Ilbo Championships last week after participating in 148 regular tours, is aiming to win for two weeks in a row in a tournament near her hometown of Busan.

‘Super rookie’ Kim Min-byeol (19, Hite Jinro) is also determined to recreate the opportunity she missed last week in this tournament. Lee So-young (26, Lotte) and Jeon Ye-seong (22, Angang Construction), winners of this competition in 2018, are also challenging the championship with a recent steep rise.