ICHEON — "I think my ability to manage a round and my patience when things aren't going my way have both improved. I want to show Korean fans how much I've grown after a year away," Yoon Lee-na said.
"Rather than fixating on results, I decided to enjoy myself with the fans, and the win followed," Yu Hae-ran said. "This week too, I plan to play without too much stress and have fun with the fans out on the course."
The two spoke at a press conference on the 15th at H1 Club in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, ahead of the Korea Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour's Iceberg Golf-Seoul Shinmun Open, which carries a total purse of 1.5 billion won (about $1.1 million). Among the familiar KLPGA Tour faces, the LPGA Tour duo of Yoon Lee-na and Yu Hae-ran stood out. It is Yoon's first KLPGA Tour start in a year. Yu won the HiteJinro Championship on the 4th of this month — her first KLPGA Tour event in about two years — and enters this week after a brief rest. Both players are scheduled to compete in the LPGA Tour's BMW Ladies Championship, which opens on the 22nd in Haenam, South Jeolla Province (Jeollanam-do), and are using this KLPGA Tour event to check their fitness and swing while drawing energy from fans.
Yoon is in a different place than she was a year ago. In her debut U.S. season last year, she struggled, managing just one top-10 finish. This year she has six top-10s, including two solo runner-up finishes. Returning from a second-place finish at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii, Yoon said: "A lot of people have told me it's a shame I didn't win last week, but for me it was a week of both regret and gratitude. It was a tournament that convinced me my golf is heading in the right direction."
She added: "Last year was a hard one. Starting this year, I promised myself not to think too much about results. Thanks to that, my mind has been more at ease since the early part of the season." She continued: "Once I decided to focus only on my own golf and my own growth, I started to feel my game improving bit by bit. I don't have a win yet, but I'm getting better and I'm on the right path. So if many fans come out to the BMW event, I'll draw energy from them and fight on to finish the season well."
Yu is closing in on the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, which she missed by 0.01 strokes two years ago. "The Vare Trophy — it's such a great award, isn't it," Yu said with a knowing smile. "I'm really not someone who cries, but I cried a lot two years ago when I narrowly missed out on that award," she admitted. "The fact that I have another shot at it means this has been a really good year," she said, adding: "They say wins and awards are handed down from above. Even if I don't get the Vare Trophy this year, I think it's been a year in which I gained a great deal. Either way, I'll keep at it and go after it, so I hope people don't push me too hard." She finished with a laugh.
Former world No. 1 Ko Jin-young, who has endured a difficult stretch since injuring her hand early in the season and has seen her world ranking slide to 95th, is also in the field. Making her first KLPGA Tour start in about three years, Ko said: "It's been so long since I played here that it's nice to see new faces." She added: "I've done well up to now, so I'm treating this year as a sabbatical and trying to wrap it up wisely for next year and beyond."
The duel between Seo Kyo-rim and Kim Min-sol — who have four and three wins respectively this year and are jostling for the money title and player-of-the-year points — is a talking point even among LPGA Tour players. "I watch their rounds on YouTube whenever I can, and it's really interesting. I've heard people say it reminds them of my rivalry with Park Hyun-kyung back in 2024," Yoon said. "This year isn't the end, so I hope they both stay healthy and play happy golf."