The third edition of the BMW Ladies Championship is set to get underway at Oak Valley Country Club in the Republic of Korea.
As the 2022 season is coming to a close, you’d be forgiven for thinking there is little to play for. In contrast, 78 of the best players in the world will take part in this no-cut event with very little separating the top of the Race to the CME Globe season standings.
World No.1 Jin Young Ko makes a much-anticipated return to action and will do so in defence of her title. The 27-year-old last featured on the LPGA Tour at the CP Women’s Open in August before taking time away from the game to rehabilitate a wrist injury. The two-time Major winning Korean returns to her home country in search of her 14th LPGA Tour title.
The field includes seven of the top-10 in the Race to the CME Globe Standings and six of the top-10 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. Lydia Ko is leading the season-long race and returns to Korea where she finished T3 last year.
She will however, be looking over her shoulder at the chasing trio of US Women’s Open champion Minjee Lee, teenage prodigy Atthaya Thittikul and Chevron Championship winner Jennifer Kupcho.
Despite a returning Jin Young Ko, many will fancy the in-form World No.2 Atthaya Thittikul. The 19-year-old, who is dubbed the fastest rising star in golf, claimed her second title of the year at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship when she defeated Danielle Kang in a playoff and followed that with consecutive top-10 finishes.
Kang, who revealed after the second round of the US Women’s Open that she was diagnosed with a tumour on her spine, is present for just her sixth start since returning from treatment. The 29-year-old will be looking to add to the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions title earlier this year.
Leona Maguire, Paula Reto, Andrea Lee, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and AIG Women’s Open champion Ashleigh Buhai round off what must be considered one of the strongest fields on the LPGA Tour this season.
Notable absentees include Lexi Thompson, who secured a dominant victory at the…
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