Korean golfers look to finish on high note at CME Group Tour Championship

The LPGA season comes to a close this weekend at the exclusive CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida where 60 golfers will tee off Thursday in a final four-day, no-cut tournament.

Korea's Kim Hyo-joo plays her shot from the fifth tee during the third round of the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Nov. 19, 2022 in Naples, Fla. [AFP/YONHAP]

The LPGA season comes to a close this weekend at the exclusive CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida where 60 golfers will tee off Thursday in a final four-day, no-cut tournament.

At the end lies a $2 million grand prize, the biggest slice out of a $7 million purse and the most amount of cash awarded on a Tour stop outside of the Majors.

A competitive field of greats will descend on the Gold Course at Tiburon Golf Club, which has hosted the season-closing Tour Championship since 2013.

Eight Korean golfers are in the Championship pool this year, making Korea the second-most represented country behind the United States, with 14.

Among the athletes from Korea is Ryu Hae-ran, who was named Rookie of the Year on Monday after tying for 12th at The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican in Belleair, Florida, the last tournament before the Tour Championship.

Ryu, 22, earned her first LPGA title at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in October where she carded 19-under-par, 194 in a wire-to-wire run. The rookie has earned six top 10 finishes across 24 events this season, including an 8th place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open, along with $1,505,635 in prize money.

Also entered is Korea’s Ko Jin-young, who took back-to-back victories with Tour Championship wins in 2020 and 2021.

But No. 4 Ko, who added two titles with early season wins at the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore in March and the Cognizant Founders Cup in New Jersey in May, could be again playing through injury after NBC’s GolfChannel.com reported that Ko was seen wearing a brace on her left knee at practice ahead of the Championship this week.

Ko also played through a wrist injury at two previous Tour Championships, according to GolfChannel.com, carding one-under-par, 287, on the course last year.

Along with Ko, Korea’s Kim Sei-young is one of four previous tournament winners returning to the green on Thursday. Kim Sei-young’s title came in 2019 while the two other champions in the field, England’s Charley Hull and Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, won in 2016 and 2017.

Korea's Kim Sei-young, left, and Amy Yang pose at the 10th tee during the final round of the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship on Nov. 20, 2022 in Naples, Fla. [AP/YONHAP]

Also joining the pool from Korea is No. 7 Kim Hyo-joo, who won The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America in Texas in October to claim her sixth career victory, along with Amy Yang, Jenny Shin, Kim A-lim and Choi Hye-jin.

Defending champion Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, is absent from this year’s player pool. She closed the season at No. 100 on the Race to CME Globe rankings, where players move up the table by earning points in tandem with their finishes on the LPGA Tour. And Korea's Lee Jong-eun6, who tied for fourth place last year, will also miss out on the season's final four rounds.

A handful of coveted trophies are still up for grabs, including the Vare Trophy, awarded to the player with the lowest stroke average of the season. A difference of a few strokes at the Tour Championship this weekend could decide who gets to add the silver cup to their cabinet. Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul currently sits in the top spot with a 69.676 stroke average but is tightly trailed by Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo, with 69.689. Ko Jin-young sits in third, with an average of 69.955.

The LPGA has also yet to crown its newest Player of the Year — given to the golfer with the highest number of points earned from top 10 finishes, distributed in descending increments. Lilia Vu, of the United States, is poised to win that title after winning The Annika last weekend and reclaiming the No. 1 spot on the Rolex.

It’s set to be a warm and humid weekend in Naples with temperatures hovering around 80 and scattered thunderstorms expected for Thursday as the sky clears for the tournament's end.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]