The total prize money for general LPGA tour tournaments is usually between 1.5 million and 2 million dollars. The prize money is between 200,000 and 300,000 dollars, and the bigger tournaments are around 400,000 dollars. At major tournaments, the winning prize must exceed 1 million dollars. Therefore, the Ladies European Tour (LET) has no choice but to have a much smaller prize money than this.
However, the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, which opens at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club (par 72, 6295 yards) in King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia on the 16th (local time), is different. The total prize money is 5 million dollars (approximately 6.3 billion won) and the winning prize is a whopping 750,000 dollars (approximately 950 million won). The total prize money is higher than that of last year’s major tournament, the Evian Championship ($4.5 million), and the winning prize money is more than three times that of general LPGA tour tournaments. Like the LIV Golf Invitational Series, which was launched last year, it is held as a ‘special tournament’ because it is sponsored by the Saudi Arabian Sovereign Fund (PIF). The total prize money jumped five times from last year’s $1 million.
As the prize money increased significantly, the top rankers of the LPGA tour, who were on vacation, flocked to Saudi Arabia. In particular, Lydia Ko (26, Hana Financial Group), a Korean New Zealander who is ranked number one in the world, will make a sortie. At the end of last year, Lydia Ko, who married Chung Joon, son of Hyundai Card Vice Chairman Chung Tae-young, became the ‘Hyundai’s daughter-in-law’, and did not participate in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, the opening match held last month, because she had to digest her honeymoon and winter training. is to attend Last season alone, Lydia Ko won a total of 19 victories, including the Gainbridge LPGA in January, the BMW Ladies Championship in October, and the CME Group Tour Championship at the end of the season. Based on this, he swept individual titles such as LPGA Tour Player of the Year, prize money, and average at bats, and returned to world No. 1. 먹튀검증
In addition to Lexi Thompson (28, USA, 7th), a famous long hitter who recorded an average drive shot of 272.84 yards last year, Nasa Hataoka (24, Japan), and Daniel Kang (31), a Korean American player, are also expected to compete for the title. The Korean players are ‘Major Queen’ Jeon In-ji (29, KB Financial Group), who won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last year, Kim Hyo-joo (28, Lotte, 9th), who won one win each last year, and Ji Eun-hee, the ‘oldest sister’ (37, Hanwha Q Cells). ) and others cast their votes. Yoo Hae-ran (22, Daol Financial Group), who will make her LPGA debut this year, was also on the list. A large number of players from the Korea Women’s Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) tour, such as Lee So-mi (24), Lim Hee-jung (23), and Jo A-yeon (23), will also participate. The LPGA tour is on a break for a month until the 23rd, and the KLPGA tour opens in April, so players plan to use this event as an opportunity to check the shots they have strengthened during winter training.