Two weeks ago, Lee Ye-won held the top spot in all three major title categories on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour: prize money, Player of the Year points, and scoring average.
But after last week's E1 Charity Open, the prize money leader changed. While Lee was competing on the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association (JLPGA) Tour, Kim Min-sol moved into first place. The major title rankings on the KLPGA Tour are expected to undergo even bigger changes this week and next, as Lee continues her absence from the domestic circuit to compete on the JLPGA Tour through this week, and four of the top-ranked Korean players are set to tee off at the U.S. Women's Open on the LPGA Tour next week.
The current prize money rankings are: Kim Min-sol in first with 376.31 million won, followed by Lee Ye-won with 375.73 million won, Bang Shin-sil with 363.11 million won, Ko Ji-won with 334.99 million won, Yoo Hyun-jo with 298.97 million won, and Jeon Ye-seong with 295.57 million won. The gaps between them are razor-thin.
The Player of the Year points race is equally tight: Lee Ye-won leads with 158 points, followed by Bang Shin-sil with 153, Kim Min-sol with 143, Ko Ji-won with 137, Kim Si-hyun with 127, Lee Da-yeon with 123, and Yoo Hyun-jo with 113.
The KLPGA members on the entry list for next week's U.S. Women's Open are Kim Min-sol, Yoo Hyun-jo, Ko Ji-won, and Hong Jeong-min. None of these four top-ranked players will be at next week's Celltrion Queens Masters. Among them, only Yoo Hyun-jo will compete in this week's Sh Suhyup Bank MBN Women's Open, which runs for three days from the 29th at The Star Hue Golf Club in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province. Kim Min-sol, Ko Ji-won, and Hong Jeong-min will be skipping the domestic stage for two consecutive weeks.
Attention is focused on whether Bang Shin-sil, currently second in Player of the Year points and third in prize money, will rise to the top of both categories over the next two weeks. Bang won the Doosan Match Play in mid-May but then missed the cut at the following E1 Charity Open, showing inconsistent form. Another point of interest is whether Lee Ye-won, who returns from her Japanese campaign to play in the Celltrion Queens Masters next week, will reclaim the top spot.
The scoring average category, which is less affected by the number of tournaments played, shows a slightly different order from the prize money and Player of the Year points rankings: Lee Ye-won leads with 70.09 strokes, followed by Lee Da-yeon with 70.41, Park Hyun-kyung with 70.54, Kim Min-sol in sixth with 70.71, Ko Ji-won in seventh with 70.96, Bang Shin-sil in 10th with 71.14, and Yoo Hyun-jo in 12th with 71.21.
