Last year's Foxconn TLPGA Players Championship, which carried the Taiwan Ladies Professional Golf Association tour's highest purse of $1.5 million, resembled a "Korean tournament." Hwang Yu-min claimed victory while Shin Ji-ae finished second, and Lee Dong-eun, Hong Jung-min, and Han Jin-sun tied for third. Including Kim Jae-hee in eighth place, six Korean players finished in the top 10.
Hwang Yu-min, who kicked off her season in fine form with the $270,000 winner's check (approximately 390 million won), went on to win the LPGA Tour's Lotte Championship as an invited player, fulfilling her dream of competing in the United States.
Unlike last year's strong Korean contingent, only three KLPGA Tour players are on this year's entry list. The tournament overlaps with the KLPGA Tour season opener, the Rejuran Championship in Thailand. This year's event is co-sanctioned with the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour and has been renamed the Taiwan Foxconn Ladies Golf Tournament. Another significant change: the total purse has increased to $2 million, with the winner's share rising to $360,000 (approximately 500 million won).
The three Korean women golfers hoping to become "the next Hwang Yu-min" are Bang Shin-sil, a long hitter who narrowly missed LPGA Tour qualification last year, along with Bae So-hyun and Kim Min-sun VII. All three won titles on the KLPGA Tour last year.
The four-day tournament begins March 12 at Orient Golf and Country Club (par 72) in Taiwan and features Japan's top-ranked players. The JLPGA's "Big Four" money leaders from last year—Sakuma Shuri, Kawamoto Yui, Kamiya Sora, and Takahashi Sayaka—are entered, as is Furue Ayaka, who competes on the LPGA Tour. JLPGA Tour players Shin Ji-ae, Lee Min-young, Jeon Mi-jung, and Bae Sun-woo will also compete. The event has become a Korea-Japan showdown in women's golf, with $360,000 on the line.