The crown of the Korea Women's Open, the nation's most prestigious major tournament, went to "super rookie" Kim Min-sol, born in 2006. It marked her second win of the season following the iM Bank Open in April, and her fourth career victory on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour. Inside her golf bag, however, was a "hidden 10-gram change" that supported this win.
According to Titleist, Kim's equipment sponsor, she used a different wedge shaft at the recently concluded Mercedes-Benz 40th Korea Women's Open, the company said Thursday. Until now, she had fitted shafts in the 105-gram range to her Titleist SM11 50-degree, 54-degree and 58-degree wedges on the KLPGA Tour, but for this tournament she brought out shafts in the 115-gram range. It was a change of just 10 grams, but the data showed her short game had improved considerably compared with the iM Bank Open, where she claimed her first win of the season.
The biggest change confirmed by the data was short-game productivity. Strokes gained from shots inside 60 yards of the pin (SG: around the green) jumped from 0.66 strokes at the iM Bank Open to 0.93 strokes at the Korea Women's Open. As a result, the share of strokes gained from play around the green within her total strokes gained also expanded from 16.88% to 22.68%. Total strokes gained rose slightly from 3.91 at the iM Bank Open to 4.10 at the Korea Women's Open, but it is notable that she earned more of the strokes needed to compete for the title from her short game.
Detailed metrics also improved. At the Korea Women's Open, her average remaining distance to the hole after shots inside 60 yards was 2.46 yards, about 1 yard closer to the pin than the tournament average of 3.47 yards, and her sand save percentage—saving par when the ball fell into a greenside bunker—was 60%, far exceeding the tournament average of 45.43%. By contrast, at the iM Bank Open her sand save percentage stood at just 0% (tournament average 35%), and her average remaining distance after shots inside 60 yards was 2.24 yards, only slightly ahead of the tournament average of 2.58 yards. The significance of these records is even greater given that the Korea Women's Open was a difficult course, with only eight players finishing under par.
"Ahead of competing in the LPGA Tour U.S. Women's Open early this month, I adjusted my shaft weight about 10 grams heavier during a wedge fitting, and my control became much easier and my stability improved," Kim said. "I kept the same setup after returning to Korea, and as my wedge play improved, it led to stable game management, which I think allowed me to win."
The Titleist Club Performance Team, which handled Kim's wedge fitting, explained: "By increasing the wedge shaft weight, she was able to keep her swing tempo more consistent and stable. She could feel the weight and movement of the head more clearly through the impact zone, producing a more precise touch."
Golf tours are full of fascinating data. Data Golf is a column that unpacks the stories of golf in an easy and engaging way through various statistics and records. If readers have data they are curious about or topics they would like covered, please feel free to send them by email anytime.
