Park Sung-hyun joins Korean golfers in LPGA Tour in new season

Park Sung-hyun joins Korean golfers in LPGA Tour in new season. January. 02, 2017 07:12. by Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com. Korean golfers who are active in the U.S. LPGA Tour have growing expectations about the new season, as 2017, the Year of the Rooster, has just come.

Korean golfers won a total of nine championships last year, but failed to secure 10 titles overall in a single season, a milestone that they had achieved for three consecutive years.

Some watchers have a rosy outlook that Korean golfers may be able to surpass 15 wins, most ever championships that they collectively acquired in 2015, in the new season. Standing at the center of this hope is Park Sung-hyun, who was born in a "Year of the Rooster." Park won seven titles in the Korean LPGA Tour last year, and is making her debut in the LPGA to continue her strides.

The LPGA Tour expressed keen interest in Park even by presenting a video that introduces the golfer on its website. U.S. Golf Channel on Sunday singled out 15 male and female golfers who deserve attention in 2017, and Park was the second on the list. Golf Channel said that Park Sung-hyun is the only golfer who did not play in the LPGA Tour in 2016 among the top 10 players in the world rankings, and was the top earner (1.33 billion won or 1.1 million U.S. dollars) in the Korean LPGA Tour, adding that she participated in only seven LPGA Tour events, but earned 700,000 dollars in prize money and garnered a berth for the 2017 LPGA season.”

Park left Korea for Orlando, the U.S. on Dec. 27 last year, and is currently concentrating on efforts to adapt herself to local environment. Since she has proven her skills and capability by ranking within sixth in all three major LPGA Tours, she seems to have strong confidence. “I feel excited to think that I am moving toward my dream. If I take a long-term perspective rather than hurrying," Park said. "I will get good outcome. My initial goal is to secure a title and the Rookie of the Year award in the season." Park is eyeing the Rookie of the Year award for a third consecutive year among the Korean golfers after Kim Se-young in 2015 and Chun In-gee in 2016. Park will make her official LPGA debut in the Honda Thailand championship in Thailand next month.

Park In-bee, the gold medalist in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, left for the U.S. early December, and started intense training sessions for more than eight hours a day. Having suffered a finger injury, Park In-bee said, “Since I took rest for over three months, I have increased the amount of my training. I have moving in the direction that I have chosen.”

Chun In-gee, the winner of last year’s Rookie of the Year award and the Bear Trophy (fewest par prize), only focused on recovery from chronic waist pain for five weeks in last year’s end. Chun, who will depart Korea on Tuesday, plans to focus her training on strengthening physical stamina and regaining her sense of play through short games.

Kim Hyo-joo, who claimed the Hyundai China Ladies Open title in December, the opener of the KLPGA Tour’s 2017 season, and Choi Na-yeon, who had no win for more than a year, are also renewing their commitment to win titles. Jang Ha-na, who clinched three titles last year, and Kim Se-young, who had two, will likely face off their foreign rivals including Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand), Lydia Ko, and Feng Shanshan (China) by banking on their stabilizing pace.