Park Min-ji’s first K-Grand Slam Challenge

Every player who plays golf has a dream.

 It’s a career grand slam. 

Grand Slam is a familiar baseball term.

 means home run. 

For golfers

a Grand Slam means winning four major tournaments. 

Among Korean players

Park In-bi (35, KB Financial Group) 바카라 did it on the LPGA Tour.

On the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour

there are players who challenge the career grand slam. 

Park Min-ji (25, NH Investment & Securities)

who won 18 personal wins

is the main character. 

A career grand slam literally means winning four majors during your career. 

Park Min-ji won his first major victory by winning the 2021 Korea Women’s Open Golf Championship

and collected the KB Financial Group Championship and Hite Jinro Championship trophies last year.

The KLPGA Tour has five major tournaments

including the Hanwha Classic 2023 and the KLPGA Championship

in addition to the three tournaments Minji Park won. 

Park Min-ji won three of the five major tournaments. 

Park Min-ji

after winning the Hite Jinro Championship last year

said

I didn’t even think about it

but it suddenly came to mind.

He has won three of the five majors

and he wants to win the other two,” he said.

Expectations are high that she will achieve 20 wins and a career grand slam on the KLPGA Tour as she is still young and is evaluated as having matured.

Among active players

Lee Da-yeon and Jang Ha-na have won three competitions.

Shin Ji-ae, who is active on the Japan Women’s Golf (JLPGA) tour

has reached the top of five major tournaments on the KLPGA tour

and Kim Soon-mi

Jang Ha-na, and Kim Hyo-joo have won four

but there is no case of winning more than four tournaments. 

Jeon In-ji also won three K-major tournaments

but is challenging the LPGA Tour Career Grand Slam.

In particular

Shin Ji-ae won the Hite Cup Women’s Professional Golf Championship in 2008

but it was not a major tournament at the time

so it was ‘no count’. 

Kim Hyo-joo also became the winner of the 2014 Hanwha Financial Classic

but she was not a major tournament.

This is why attention is focused on the Hanwha Classic 2023 (total prize money of 1.7 billion won)

which opens on the 24th at the Jade Palace Golf Club (par 72, 6777 yards) in Chuncheon

Gangwon-do.

 Considering Park Min-ji’s tendency to challenge herself

expectations are high for her first career grand slam title on the KLPGA tour.

Park Min-ji

who added two wins this year

came in 6th at the High1 Resort Women’s Open

which ended on the 20th. 

She had better final round performance (69 strokes) than her first day (71 strokes).

 She made up for her disappointment of missing the cut in both the final tournament of the first half and the opening game of the second half with her seventh top 10.

She finished runner-up last year at this event

where she shot 5-over-par 293. She also performed well in the notorious Rough Hell.

 In 2021

she finished 29th with 1 over par 289

and in 2019

she finished 39th with 7 over par 295

a performance that erased memories of struggle.

This year’s Jade Palace GC is relatively less difficult than last year. 

The rough has been shortened to 80mm

and the fairway has been widened to 20-27m. 

The point is that the course

which required defensive game management

opened up room for the ‘dakgong’ strategy. 

The fact that the fairways and greens are soft due to rain is also expected to act as a variable to choose between offense and defense. 

One major spectating point has been added to watch the Hanwha Classic. 

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