Park Ji-young eyes historic third win at KLPGA S-Oil Championship

Park Ji-young will return to the KLPGA S-Oil Championship at Elysian Jeju Country Club in Jeju on Thursday, aiming to become the first golfer to win the tournament three times.

Park Ji-young hits a shot during the Dukshin EPC-Seoul Economics Ladies Classic at the 88 Country Club in Yongin, Gyeonggi on Saturday. [YONHAP]

Park Ji-young will return to the KLPGA S-Oil Championship at Elysian Jeju Country Club in Jeju on Thursday, aiming to become the first golfer to win the tournament three times.

First held in 2007, the S-Oil Championship has seen past champions go on to the LPGA, including 2019 and 2020 winner Choi Hye-jin and 2014 and 2015 winner Chun In-gee.

Park, a two-time S-Oil Championship winner, claimed titles in 2016 and 2021. She joins this year’s tournament with three titles and 10 top-10 finishes in the 2024 season, most recently winning the Hanwha Classic — one of the five KLPGA majors — on Aug. 25.

“I’m aiming for victory and will do my best, especially since it’s an end-of-season tournament,” Park said in a press release Tuesday. “Since this course is quite windy, reading the wind and making precise tee shots will be crucial.”

Lee Ye-won, who also has three KLPGA titles this season, enters the tournament after finishing runner-up at the S-Oil Championship last year.

Lee Ye-won hits a shot during the Dukshin EPC-Seoul Economics Ladies Classic at the 88 Country Club in Yongin, Gyeonggi on Saturday. [YONHAP]

“I had a good result here last year, and I’m aiming for another victory,” Lee said. “I want to finish the season without injury, and if I putt well, I think good results will follow.”

Three-time 2024 KLPGA winners Park Hyun-kyung and Bae So-hyun will also compete, along with Ro Seung-hui, who has two titles this season. A victory for Ro would mark the first KLPGA season with five golfers winning three titles each.

Joining the field is Ji Han-sol, who won the Dukshin EPC-Seoul Economics Ladies Classic last week.

“I am trying to compete calmly rather than being greedy about victory,” Ji said. “I’m feeling well, so I will aim to card 60 strokes in every round. I will do my best.”

KLPGA No. 1 Yoon Ina is notably absent, opting to rest after a strong season with one title and 14 top-10 finishes, topping the KLPGA rankings with 12.0758 points as of Wednesday.

The tournament winner will take home 162 million won ($117,000) from a total purse of 900 million won.

Lee, Kim Su-ji and Ro will tee off from the first hole at 10:44 a.m. Thursday, while Ji, Park Ji-young and Park Hyun-kyung are set to tee off at 10:55 a.m.

Thursday’s forecast in Jeju is partly cloudy, with rain expected on Friday and Saturday before clear skies return on Sunday. Fans can catch all the action on SBS Golf.

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