Kim A-lim of South Korea tees off on the fourth hole during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, on May 8, 2025, in this Getty Images photo. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Four former champions will be among 25 South Korean players competing at the oldest and the most lucrative LPGA major this week in the United States.
The 80th U.S. Women’s Open will be played from Thursday to Sunday (local time) at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin, with 156 players in action. The tournament will offer a purse of US$12 million, the largest on the LPGA Tour this year.
The South Korean contingent, the second-largest behind only the 38-player-deep United States, will feature three players who have won an LPGA event in 2025: Kim A-lim, Kim Hyo-joo and Ryu Hae-ran.
Ryu is the top South Korean in the world rankings at No. 5, with Kim Hyo-joo checking in at No. 7. Ko Jin-young, a 15-time tour winner with two career major titles, is No. 10.
Kim A-lim, world No. 30, is one of four ex-U.S. Women’s Open winners from South Korea teeing off this week. The 2020 champion will be joined by Chun In-gee (2015), Park Sung-hyun (2017) and Lee Jeong-eun (2019).
While those three players have been trying to find their game lately, Kim A-lim has had a solid season so far, recording three top-10s in addition to her win at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in February.
Kim Hyo-joo is in third place in the Player of the Year points with 59, nine back of Mao Saigo, who won the first major of the season, the Chevron Championship, in April. Kim tied three others for second place after a record-setting five-way playoff at the Chevron.
Players receive points for top-10 finishes at each tournament, and those points are doubled at major championships.
Kim also won a Ladies European Tour event on home soil earlier this month.
This week’s field will also include six players from the KLPGA Tour, including Bae So-hyun, who won three tournaments last year, and Yoo Hyun-jo, the 2024 Rookie of the Year.
South Korean players have been more successful at the U.S. Women’s Open than at any other LPGA major, with 11 wins.
(Yonhap)
