Three South Koreans – Sung Yoo-jin (23), Hong Jung-min (21) and Shin Myung-soo (21)스포츠토토 – will compete in the final round of the Qualifying (Q) Series, which offers a spot on the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour next year. The three players will compete in a six-round survival game from Nov. 30-Dec. 5 after passing the second stage.
Sung shot a 3-under 69 with four birdies and a bogey to finish tied for fourth (10-under 278) in the final round on Tuesday (Nov. 20) at the Bobcat Course (Par 72, 6543 yards) at Venice Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice, Florida, USA. After birdies on the front four holes, she traded bogeys on the back 11 and 12 before adding birdies on the 13th and 16th holes.
Sung, who has competed in 20 events on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour this season, is 13th on the money list ($494.1 million) after winning the Doosan Match Play. She made the cut in all of her events and finished tied for third at the Hite Jinro Championship on July 7. She won the Lotte Open on the KLPGA last year and was an invitee to the LPGA Tour’s Lotte Championship in April, where she finished second in a playoff.
Hong also played the Bobcat Course and shot an even-par 72 to finish tied for eighth (7-under par) with fellow Korean-American Christina Kim (Chorong Kim). Hong is 18th on the money list ($418.81 million) with 19 made cuts and two second-place finishes in 23 KLPGA Tour events this year. After finishing tied for 27th at the Daebo House Open on Jan. 1, she opted to head to the United States.
Shin, who started in a tie for 41st place, also played the Bobcat Course and shot a 4-under 68 with five birdies and one bogey to move up the leaderboard and finish in a tie for 21st place (4-under par). Shin’s father is soccer player Shin Se-woong, and the Busan native, who attended Haksan Girls’ Middle School in Busan, said Choi Hye-jin is her role model.
At the ninth stop of the 2020 Jump Tour, she won her first event just 11 days after joining the tour as an associate member, setting a record for the shortest time to win. She and Hong Jung-min were classmates at Daejeon Women’s Bangtongo. She has a great long iron shot that she uses to her advantage.
Amateur World No. 1 Ingrid Lindvald (SWE), the world’s top-ranked women’s golfer, shaved five strokes off her score on the day to finish four shots clear (18-under par) and punch her ticket to the Final School. Alexandra Fosterling (GER) was three strokes back in second place (14-under par), while Thailand’s Pinyada Kubanun was three strokes back in third place (11-under par).
A total of 41 players made the cut, including a tie for 30th at 2-under par. Of the 188 total entrants, six South Koreans missed the cut, including Hong Ye-eun, Baek Ji-eun, Kim Min-ji, Park Geum-gang, Lee Min-soo, and Park Jeong-eun (amateur).