Back on the fairway

The LPGA Tour continues over the Lunar New Year holiday with the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio where An Na-rin and Choi Hye-jin will make their LPGA Tour debut after the 2022 season started at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

Park In-bee competes in the BMW Ladies Championship in Busan in October last year. [NEWS1]

The Korea JoongAng Daily's holiday TV guide highlights all the best sports to watch over the long Seollal holiday.

The LPGA Tour continues over the Lunar New Year holiday with the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio where An Na-rin and Choi Hye-jin will make their LPGA Tour debut after the 2022 season started at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

The two KLPGA favorites are hoping to become LGPA favorites as well, having earned their Tour cards for the 2022 season in December. An finished the two-week LPGA Q-Series in first place and Choi finished in fifth. An had 11 top-10 finishes on the Korean tour last year, with two runner-up finishes. Choi is a three-time KLPGA Player of the Year.

The defending champion is Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States, who won the event in 2021 at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club.

The championship features seven of the top-10 players in the world, including No. 4 Park In-bee. Keep an eye out for a total of 15 Korean players that will be playing at this event: Kang Hae-ji, Park Hee-young, Choi Hye-jin, Lee Jeong-eun, Amy Yang, Chun In-gee, Hong Yae-eun, Jenny Shin, Lee Jeong-eun6, Kim A-lim, Choi Na-yeon, Lee Mi-rim, Park In-bee, An Na-rin and Lee Mi-rim.

The Gainbridge LPGA will continue with their second round on Friday. Choi and Lee Jeong-eun6 carded a five-under-par, 67, in the first round while Chun and Yang are tied for 11th with four-under-par. The final round will take place on Sunday.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]