"Hot Six" Lee Jeong-eun6 was born on May 28, 1996. She will soon turn 30, adding one more Korean female golfer in her 30s to the LPGA Tour.
Among Korean players in their 30s, some are still hitting hot shots while others are going through a slump. While Ko Jin-young (31) and Kim Sei-young (33) might fall into the former category, alongside Kim Hyo-joo (31) and Kim Se-young, players including Lee Jeong-eun6, Ko Jin-young (31), Park Sung-hyun (32) and Chun In-gee (31) belong to the latter.
Lee Jeong-eun6 and Park Sung-hyun, who lost their cards and are now competing on the secondary Epson Tour, along with Chun In-gee, who is struggling to escape her slump, will compete on the "LPGA stage" for two consecutive weeks in search of a turnaround. However, the two tournaments offer a stark contrast. One is a tournament where top-ranked players are completely absent, while the other features all the top-ranked players.
The events are the ShopRite LPGA Classic, held over three days from May 29 to 31 (local time) at the Bay Course of Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway, New Jersey, and the US Women's Open, played June 4-7 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.
The ShopRite LPGA, with a total purse of $2 million, is being held as a "major tune-up event," but most top-ranked players have skipped it. Among the world's top 10, only No. 7 Charley Hull (England) is competing. Even expanding to the top 25, only five players are entered: No. 15 Choi Hye-jin, No. 18 Akie Iwai (Japan), No. 20 Chisato Iwai (Japan) and No. 24 Jennifer Kupcho (United States). In contrast, the US Women's Open, with a total purse of $12 million — six times that of the ShopRite LPGA — features every single top-ranked player. World No. 1 Nelly Korda (United States), No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul (Thailand) and No. 3 Kim Hyo-joo are skipping the ShopRite to focus on the US Women's Open. Of course, other top-ranked players share the same approach.
Only six Korean players will compete in both tournaments back-to-back: Park Sung-hyun, Chun In-gee, Lee Jeong-eun6, Choi Hye-jin, Lee So-mi and Kang Min-ji. Jang Hyo-jun, Lee Dong-eun, Jeon Ji-won, Park Geum-kang, Lee Jeong-eun5, Joo Su-bin, Shin Ji-eun and Choi Un-jung will also play in the ShopRite Classic, but unfortunately did not qualify for the US Women's Open.
Park Sung-hyun and Lee Jeong-eun6, who play on the Epson Tour, can compete in the US Women's Open because they are former champions. Chun In-gee won in 2015, Park Sung-hyun in 2017 and Lee Jeong-eun6 in 2019, delivering the top major trophy to Korean golf fans every other year.
In the current money rankings, Chun In-gee sits 76th and Lee Jeong-eun6 137th — both in the lower-middle range. Park Sung-hyun played in the Riviera Maya Open in Mexico but missed the cut, leaving her unranked on the money list. The three "older sisters" in their 30s, all former "Major Queens" desperately in need of a turnaround shot, will face the "major tune-up event" and the US Women's Open — where they hold fond memories — in succession.
