Hong Yae-eun, others join Handa Invitational to win first Korean title since May

The ISPS Handa World Invitational — the last tournament of the LPGA’s European swing this season — tees off Thursday in Northern Ireland with Hong Yae-eun and a few other Korean golfers joining the field to become the first Korean golfer to ...

Hong Yae-eun tees off on the third hole during the second round of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational at Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan, on July 20. [AFP/YONHAP]

The ISPS Handa World Invitational — the last tournament of the LPGA’s European swing this season — tees off Thursday in Northern Ireland with Hong Yae-eun and a few other Korean golfers joining the field to become the first Korean golfer to secure a title this season after Ko Jin-young.

First started in 2019, the Handa Invitational involved separate events for both men and women. The tournament did not take place in 2020 but returned the following year, and its men’s event gained the DP World Tour status, while the women’s event gained co-sanctioning by the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour (LET).

Both the men’s event and women’s event of the tournament this year will be held at Galgorm Castle Golf Club and Castlerock Golf Club.

The first and second rounds of the tournament will take place at both courses alternately, while the third and fourth rounds will be held at Galgorm Castle Golf Club only.

The male and female golfers will not compete against each other, however, as the men’s event and women’s event are separate tournaments.

Both events will see 144 golfers apiece for the equal prize money of $250,000 from a total purse of $1.5 million.

Golfers from the LET and LPGA Tour will compromise the women’s field, while DP World Tour golfers will make up the men’s event.

Over in the women’s event, multiple top-ranked Korean golfers like world No. 3 Ko, No. 7 Kim Hyo-joo and No. 17 Shin Ji-yai are skipping the event after competing in the AIG Women’s Open — the season’s last major — last week.

Eight other top-10 ranked golfers, including No. 1 Lilia Vu and No. 2 Nelly Korda will all sit out this time.

Hong, who has yet to manage a title this season, joins the field to claim her first-ever LPGA victory. The 20-year-old has not been successful this season, failing to make the cut in four of the eight past tournaments so far.

Her best finish this season was tied for 17th at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational last month.

Alongside Hong, three other Korean female golfers join the tournament: Joo Soo-bin, Lee Il-hee and Park Kum-kang.

Ko still remains the only Korean golfer to have won a tournament this year, despite being seven months into the 2023 season.

The men’s event, on the other hand, includes Victor Perez of France and Daniel Gavins of England, who have shown a good performance on the DP World Tour this year.

Perez won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January, while Gavins won the Ras AI Khaimah Championship in February.

Only two male Korean golfers, Wang Jeung-hun and Kim Yeong-su, join the tournament.

Wang Jeung-hun hits a shot during the DP World Tour Singapore Classic in Singapore on Feb. 11. [AFP/YONHAP]

The LPGA tour will be back in North America next week, with the CPKC Women’s Open set to tee off in Vancouver, Canada, on Aug. 24.

The tour will then head to Asia in October, during which it will also swing by Korea, where the BMW Ladies Championship is set to take place at Seowon Valley Country Club in Paju, Gyeonggi on Oct. 19.

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