A total of 16 golfers have notched 10 or more victories on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour. Lee Ye-won became the 16th member of the "10-Win Club" by claiming her 10th career title at the Duksin EPC Championship in April.
Among them, only six have also recorded 10 or more runner-up finishes. The list includes the now-retired Ko Woo-soon (17 wins, 15 runner-up finishes), Jang Ha-na (15 wins, 19 runner-up finishes), Jung Gil-ja (12 wins, 14 runner-up finishes), Kang Chun-ja (10 wins, 13 runner-up finishes), Yoo So-yeon (10 wins, 10 runner-up finishes) and active player Park Ji-young (10 wins, 10 runner-up finishes).
While more wins than runner-up finishes would be ideal, recording 10 or more of both is considered a remarkable achievement.
Several active players are within reach. Shin Ji-yai, who shares the all-time wins record (20) with the late former KLPGA chairwoman Ku Ok-hee, has nine runner-up finishes. The late Ku had six runner-up finishes. Park Min-ji, with 19 wins and seven runner-up finishes, may find challenging the all-time wins record easier than reaching 10 runner-up finishes. Kim Hyo-joo, with 14 wins, also has seven runner-up finishes.
Lee Jung-min, with 11 wins, and Lee Ye-won, with 10 wins, both have nine runner-up finishes, making them strong candidates to join the group of players with 10 or more of each.
There is also a player who has already recorded more than 10 runner-up finishes and is now chasing her 10th win — Park Hyun-kyung, who will defend her title this week at the E1 Charity Open at Ferrum Club (par 72) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province.
Park was once saddled with the unwelcome label of "runner-up specialist." That was during a winless stretch in which she finished second nine times. Her career trajectory of wins and runner-up finishes has followed a unique pattern: "3 wins – 9 runner-up finishes – 5 wins – 2 runner-up finishes." This tournament marks the site of the last of her eight career wins. A full year has now passed without a victory. Compounding the frustration, Park finished runner-up in two consecutive stroke-play events most recently. She is no doubt eager to break this renewed pattern of runner-up finishes and quickly climb to the nine-win and 10-win milestones.
Of course, Park is well aware that impatience does not help. Her shots are heating up. The ninth and 10th wins will come soon. Time, too, is on Park's side.
