This week's Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) tour will be missing Lee Ye-won, who currently leads the prize money, scoring average, and Player of the Year points rankings. Lee will compete in the Bridgestone Ladies Open in Japan as an invited player.
Even without the No. 1 player, the domestic stage remains red-hot this week, as a long-awaited head-to-head matchup has been arranged for golf fans.
The "long-hitting duo" of Bang Shin-sil and Kim Min-sol has been paired with the popular Park Hyun-kyung. The stage is the first round of the E1 Charity Open at Ferrum Club (par 72) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on May 22.
Park is the defending champion of last year's tournament. Bang won last week's Doosan Matchplay. They are joined by Kim Min-sol, who ranks second in prize money. The matchup was arranged under the "KLPGA Pairing Rule No. 1," which groups the previous tournament's champion, the defending champion, and the top prize money earner into the same flight.
The interest centers on how Park, who won last year's tournament with a bogey-free performance, will fare between the two long hitters. In the current driving distance rankings, Kim Min-sol is second (258.59 yards) and Bang is sixth (251.55 yards). Park, by contrast, ranks 61st (237.34 yards). She trails Kim by 21.25 yards and Bang by 14.21 yards. On most par-4 and par-5 holes, Park will likely be the first to hit her second shot.
While her driving distance is clearly shorter, Park has a slight edge in greens in regulation. The rankings show Park fourth (75.14%), Kim Min-sol fifth (75.11%), and Bang 10th (74.56%).
The area where Park holds a clear advantage is the short game. Putting has long been one of her strengths. This year, Park has also shown strong form in recovery rate, ranking second (76.47%) behind Lee Ye-won, who leads at 77.19%. That puts her well ahead of Kim Min-sol, ranked 60th (60.71%), and Bang, 69th (59.77%). Park was eliminated in the group stage at last week's Doosan Matchplay, but she finished runner-up in the two preceding stroke play tournaments. She is now challenging for back-to-back titles at this event and her first win of the season against two long hitters who have each already won once this year.
There are more intriguing pairings. Attention is also drawn to a long-drive showdown featuring driving distance leader Kim Na-hyun II (265.24 yards), third-ranked Lee Se-young (254.68 yards), and amateur long hitter Oh Su-min.
Other compelling pairings include "Lim Jin-young, Kim Si-hyun, and Kim Min-sun VII," "Jung Yun-ji, Bae So-hyun, and Ji Han-sol," "Cho A-yean, Kim Su-ji, and Moon Jung-min," and "Ko Ji-won, Yoo Hyun-jo, and Jeon Ye-seong."
