Hwang Yu-min, who finished tied for fifth at the LPGA Tour's season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, will be absent from competition for nearly a month. She is not eligible for the Honda LPGA Thailand, the tour's second event, and will not return until the HSBC Women's World Championship in late February.
While Hwang will be missing, Korean golf fans have another compelling tournament to watch. The PIF Saudi Ladies International, the Ladies European Tour (LET) season opener, tees off Tuesday at Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia for four days. A remarkable 19 Korean players will compete, all qualifying through the tournament's "world ranking top 300" eligibility requirement.
The Korean contingent is led by world No. 17 Choi Hye-jin and includes Lee So-mi, Yoo Hyun-jo, Hong Jung-min, Bang Shin-sil, Kim Min-sol, Yun I-na, Lee Dong-eun, Yang Hee-young, Ko Ji-won, Ma Da-som, Jung Yun-ji, Seo Gyo-rim, Bae So-hyun, Park Hye-jun, Kim Min-sun7, Kim Si-hyun, Park Bo-kyum, and Lee Chae-eun2.
The surge from just seven Korean players last year has clear reasons.
The prize money is substantial. The tournament offers a total purse of $5 million (approximately 7.2 billion won). Last year, Lee So-mi earned $440,000 by finishing solo second in the individual competition and winning the team event. Yun I-na took home about $160,000 for her tied-fourth individual finish, while Kim Min-sun7 earned over $100,000 from the team victory and a tied-18th individual result. For KLPGA Tour players who often conduct winter training in Southeast Asia, the Saudi event also provides an attractive opportunity to test their games in competition.
The tournament will also offer a preview of players competing for LPGA Rookie of the Year honors against Hwang Yu-min. Lee Dong-eun will be joined by Q-Series medalist Helen Briem of Germany, Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland, Mimi Rhodes of England, and Nastasia Nadaud of France—all LPGA Tour rookies this season.
The highest-ranked player in the field is world No. 5 Charley Hull of England, followed by world No. 14 Rikako Takeda of Japan.
Though this is the LET season opener, it is highly likely to become a Korea-Japan showdown in women's golf. Japanese top players competing on the LPGA Tour will be out in force, including world No. 16 Nasa Hataoka, world No. 25 Akie Iwai, and world No. 31 Chisato Iwai. Japan has five players in the field, including Ayako Uehara.