Seoul: Four of the five major champions from this season will join local favorites as the LPGA Tour makes its stop in South Korea later this month. Organizers have announced that the BMW Ladies Championship will be held from October 16 to 19 at Pine Beach Golf Links in Haenam, located approximately 330 kilometers south of Seoul. This is the only LPGA tournament hosted in the country.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the tournament will feature a competitive field that includes U.S. Women's Open champion Maja Stark, KPMG Women's PGA Championship winner Minjee Lee, Amundi Evian Championship winner Grace Kim, and AIG Women's Open champion Miyu Yamashita. Among these, Lee and Kim are Australians of Korean descent, with Lee also being the 2023 winner of the BMW Ladies Championship.
The event will also see the participation of top South Korean players. Ko Jin-young, the 2021 champion, will be competing alongside Kim Hyo-joo, who is currently the top-ranked South Korean player at No. 9. Joining them are the 2023 LPGA Rookie of the Year Ryu Hae-ran and former U.S. Women's Open winner Kim A-lim. Additionally, former major champions Chun In-gee and Park Sung-hyun, who have been recovering from injuries, have received special invitations to participate in the tournament.
The 72-hole tournament will feature a total purse of $2.2 million, with the winner taking home $330,000. The LPGA and BMW Korea have moved the tournament across different locations in the country after the first two editions were held in the southeastern city of Busan in 2019 and 2021. The 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year marks the first time the tournament will be held at Pine Beach Golf Links, a course known for its scenic beauty with greens and tee boxes located along the beach and atop seaside cliffs. The course is renowned for its sloping fairways and challenging bunkers, making it one of the top golf destinations in South Korea. BMW Korea has extended its partnership with the LPGA to continue hosting this tournament in South Korea through 2029.