Three Korean rookies to join LPGA Drive on Championship

The LPGA Drive on Championship tees off Thursday with 3 Korean golfers who qualified for the Tour through the qualifying Q-Series joining the 120-strong field. Im Jin-hee, Sung Yu-jin and Lee So-mi will compete at the Bradenton Country Club

Im Jin-hee hits a shot during the SK Shieldus-SK Telecom Championship held at La Vie est Belle Golf & Resort in Chuncheon, Gangwon on Nov. 12, 2023. [NEWS1]

The LPGA Drive on Championship tees off Thursday with three Korean golfers who qualified for the Tour through the qualifying Q-Series joining the 120-strong field.

Im Jin-hee, Sung Yu-jin and Lee So-mi will compete in the second LPGA tournament of the 2024 season held at the Bradenton Country Club in Bradenton, Florida after earning a place on the Tour through the Q-Series in December last year.

The three will compete alongside some big names on the Tour, including top ranked golfers on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. No. 1 Lilia Vu, No. 2 Ruoning Yin, No. 3 Celine Boutier and No. 4 Nelly Korda will all be in the field.

This season’s very first winner Lydia Ko — winning the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions last week — will also be in action at the Drive on Championship.

This week’s LPGA tournament is the season’s first full-field event that includes 120 golfers. Last week’s competition only included 35 golfers, as only those with titles over the past two seasons were eligible to compete in the four-day, no-cut tournament.

Two former champions of the Drive on Championship — 2023 winner Boutier and 2022 winner Leona Maguire — will be looking to become the first-ever golfer to win the title twice.

First started in 2020, the tournament has seen five winners so far — the tournament happened twice in 2020 and then once in 2021, 2022 and 2023. No Korean golfer has won the event.

A total of 16 Korean golfers will compete in the tournament, including some strong contenders who secured victory on the Tour last season: Walmart NW Arkansas Championship winner Ryu Hae-ran and CME Group Tour Championship winner Amy Yang.

The 11 other Korean golfers competing are Kim A-lim, Choi Hye-jin, Kim Sei-young, Lee Mi-hyang, An Na-rin, Chun In-gee, Jeon Ji-won, Kang Min-ji, Kang Hae-ji, Jang Hyo-joon and Lee Jeong-eun5.

Lee Mi-hyang will be the first Korean to tee off on the first hole Thursday at 7:36 a.m. alongside Maria Fassi and Marina Alex.

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