Top-ranked Korean golfers to compete at KEB Hana Championship

The 2017 LPGA tour season has been very successful for the top two Korean players, World No. 1 Ryu So-yeon and World No. 2 Park Sung-hyun. During the interview, they were both smiling but their faces lit up with passion and excitement when asked about their goals for the championship.

The two players, who are competing against each other in the Player of the Year race and on the money list, will appear in the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship at the Ocean Course at SKY72 Golf & Resort in Incheon, starting from Thursday.

As of Tuesday, Ryu leads the Player of the Year race with 150 points followed by Lexi Thompson with 147 points and Park with 130 points. However, Park is ahead of Ryu on the money list with 1.91 million dollars.

As the two players have struggled a bit recently, they see this tournament as an opportunity to bounce back and step closer to winning the awards. Ryu has had no wins since she won the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in June while Park has had no victories since she clinched a title at the Canadian Pacific Women's Open in August. "My biggest goal is to win the Player of the Year award," Ryu said at a press conference on Tuesday. "I believe winning the championship will help me get closer to my goal."

Korean players have shown strong performance at the only LPGA tournament in Korea, which marks the 16th time this year. Nine out of 15 champions were Koreans. Chun In-gee, who hopes to clinch her first win this season, and "super rookie" Choi Hye-jin, who turned pro in August, are also drawing attention.

Yun-Cheol Jeong trigger@donga.com