This week marks "Major Week" on the LPGA Tour, with the Chevron Championship, the season's first major, teeing off. The event is generating buzz from the start, with a total purse of $9 million, up $1 million from last year. The winner's share has increased by $150,000 to $1.35 million, and even players who miss the cut will receive $10,000. The players invited to this prize money feast are wide-eyed.
While the LPGA's "Major Week" unfolds, two Korean major champions are grinding away on the second-tier Epson Tour with gritted teeth. Park Sung-hyun and Lee Jeong-eun6, who both lost their LPGA cards last year and chose to start over on the secondary tour, will compete in the Epson Tour IOA Championship at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon in Beaumont, California, over three days starting Thursday.
Lee Jeong-eun6, the 2019 U.S. Women's Open champion, has already tasted victory on the Epson Tour this season at the IOA Golf Classic and sits fourth on the money list, boosting her chances of returning to the LPGA next year. This will be her third start of the season.
Park Sung-hyun, who captured two major titles at the 2017 U.S. Women's Open and the 2018 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, will be making her debut on the secondary tour. It also marks the first time the two major champions are appearing on the Epson Tour together.
The tournament carries a total purse of $200,000, about one forty-fifth of the Chevron Championship's prize pool. Yet the two major champions' desire to win remains no different than when they competed in LPGA majors. Their hard-fought efforts deserve applause.
