Top KLPGA Stars' Weak Spots in 2024: Short Drives, Three-Putts and Par-3 Struggles

The 2024 Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour produced 23 champions, but nearly all of them struggled in at least one or two statistical categories throughout the season.

Among the champions, only Noh Seung-hee ranked below the tour's average driving distance of 238.87 yards, sitting at 84th with 234.20 yards. Similarly, Lee Yul-lin was the sole champion with a greens in regulation (GIR) percentage below the tour average of 69.83 percent, ranking 70th at 68.05 percent. Both players achieved remarkable success by overcoming their respective weaknesses.

Lee Dong-eun, who secured her LPGA Tour card for next season by finishing tied for seventh at the Q-Series Final Stage, had a challenging year in several areas despite her strengths. She led the tour in driving distance at 261.05 yards and ranked sixth in GIR at 77.11 percent, but her struggles became apparent around the greens.

Lee's scrambling rate—the ability to save par or make birdie after missing the green—ranked just 71st at 58.31 percent. Given the more demanding green-side conditions on the LPGA Tour compared to the domestic circuit, this could be her biggest challenge ahead. She also struggled with short putts, ranking 52nd in three-putt rate at 4.01 percent and 54th in putts made from under one yard at 98.96 percent.

Long hitters generally struggled with fairway accuracy. Bang Shin-sil, the second-longest driver, ranked 91st in fairways hit at 65.13 percent, while Lee Dong-eun placed 89th at 65.44 percent and Hwang Yu-min, sixth in driving distance, ranked 86th at 65.92 percent.

Kim Su-ji, who led the tour in GIR, finished 27th in the money list without a victory due to putting woes. Her average of 30.71 putts per round ranked just 92nd. Other top players who struggled on the greens included Lim Hee-jung at 89th with 30.65 putts, Bae So-hyun at 85th with 30.60 putts, and Sung Yu-jin at 82nd with 30.59 putts.

Ko Ji-woo, known as a "birdie machine" who ranked ninth in driving distance, fourth in average birdies, and 15th in prize money, had an extremely difficult season putting. She ranked 99th in three-putt rate at 4.95 percent and 96th in putts made from under one yard at 98.36 percent.

The player who suffered most from short-putt failures was none other than Park Min-ji. She ranked 102nd in putts made from under one yard at 98.17 percent, missing 15 out of 818 attempts. Park Hyun-kyung led this category at 99.69 percent, missing just three putts out of 968 attempts.

Bunker play proved troublesome for Jung Yun-ji and Han Jin-sun. Jung ranked 103rd in sand save percentage at 34.09 percent, while Han placed 99th at 35.29 percent.

Some top players particularly struggled on par-3 holes. Three-time winner Lee Ye-won ranked 69th with an average of 3.022 strokes, while Ko Ji-woo placed 83rd at 3.048 strokes. The tour average on par-3s was 3.016 strokes, with Park Ju-young leading at 2.892 strokes.

Fans eagerly await to see how these top players will return in 2026 after addressing their identified weaknesses.