South Koreans out to conquer golf course at Singapore Women’s Open

THE spirit of Pak Se-ri will be evident at Tanah Merah Country Club’s Tampines clubhouse and course this week, for about two-thirds of the 102-strong field for the S$1.1 million Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open, starting on Friday (Dec 9), are South Koreans.

As this so-called “kimchi kindredship” reigns at Tampines among the South Koreans, many of whom were not even born when Pak pioneered a South Korean onslaught on the global women’s game, the sensational “Seoul Sister” remains a name stuck in their DNA.

Pak was the only South Korean on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour back in 1998. Her spectacular triumph at the US Women’s Open that year was the stage from which she launched four other Major victories among her 25 LPGA wins. She eventually entered golf’s Hall of Fame in 2007.

Today, there are hundreds of South Koreans on the women’s professional tour. Thirty-one of the top 100 players are from the country where golf has flourished since Pak stoked the fires of interest with her immaculate showings. She also won the HSBC Women’s Champions at TMCC’s Garden course in 2009.

Hong Ji-won, who won the Hanwha Classic in South Korea last week, said: “Pak is the country’s main ambassador. I was born two years after she won the US Open, but her name in still mentioned among my colleagues. She is an icon, and we all look up to her.”

Numerically, the odds are in favour of a South Korean champion. However, golf titles are not decided off the course but on it, and on a highly-challenging Tampines course where even favourites have been known to have fallen by the wayside, it is definitely anybody’s game this weekend.

All eyes will be on two former No 1 players – Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand and Shin Ji-yai of South Korea – for whom Singapore has been a happy hunting ground. The former has fond memories of the Lion City, for she claimed the Asia-Pacific Championship at Sentosa’s New Tanjong course in 2018 as an amateur.

Now the world’s third-ranked female golfer, Thitikul insists she will have to “bring my A-game” if she is to upstage the KLPGA Tour’s cream of the crop to win in Singapore.

Thitikul can expect stiff competition, with nine out of the top 10 finishers of last season’s KLPGA Tour points standings in action in Singapore.

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Among them are world No 14 Park Min-ji and Kim Su-ji, with the latter recently crowned the KLPGA Player of the Year.

Other notable names in the field include veteran Shin, who boasts 61 wins under her belt, world No 20 Choi Hye-jin and American Solheim Cup team member Yealimi Noh.

“Golf is a sport that’s always hard to gauge because you can have either a good or bad week,” said Thitikul, who has been a revelation as a rookie on the LPGA Tour this year after bagging two titles and has posted top-10 finishes on 14 other occasions.

“It’s tough to win every week. It really depends on how things pan out for you in one particular week. At times, even when you’re playing well, there may be others who do better. It’s going to be a very challenging week, because everyone is so good and talented.”

KLPGA fans will be thrilled to see two-time Women’s British Open champion Shin back in action on the Tour after 28 months out, having last competed at the Dayouwinia MBN Ladies Open in August 2020.

The 35-year-old Shin is a 21-time winner on the KLPGA Tour but not since 2010 after she shifted her focus to Japan where she’s been equally successful on the JLPGA Tour with 28 victories to date.

“It’s been a while since I last played in a KLPGA event. There are so many fresh faces here. As a big sister, I hope to play well and inspire my younger sisters,” she said.