By Baek Byung-yeul
Since Pak Se-ri claimed the 1998 trophy, seven Korean golfers have won eight of the U.S. Women's Open Championship, making it one of the most acclaimed golf events for Korean fans.
This year's U.S. Women's Open Championship will take place at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey from Thursday to Sunday and a total of 28 Korean golfers will compete for the biggest purse in the women's game of $5 million.
Among them, world No. 1 Ryu So-yeon is one of the contenders for the biggest event in women's golf. The 27-year-old said she wants to repeat the feat she achieved in 2011.
"Since Se-ri won the 1998 U.S. (Women's) Open, it was always my dream back then to win," Ryu told LPGA.com Tuesday. "After I won the U.S. Women's Open, I felt like all my dedication had been paid off. That made me so happy and definitely changed everything in my life and hopefully I can have another U.S. Women's Open victory. Let's see what's going to happen."
Ryu became the world No. 1 after winning the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship last month. She has been the most consistent player this season -- the only one to win two events this year. She won the LPGA Tour's first major championship, the ANA Inspiration, in April.
Noting that she is living the dream after becoming the world No. 1, Ryu said she will focus on what she has to do to prepare for the Open.
"It's sort of really fun because this is what I've been dreaming of and I'm living the dream right now.
"I think the biggest lesson I've ever learned from my psychologist, Dr. Cho, is just to think about what you cannot control and what you can control.
"So, right now I am not thinking about the result which gives me less pressure about the tournament and I really focus on how I'm going to prepare for everything."
Two-time Open winner Park In-bee, who is a close friend of Ryu, said the latter is a good influence on her.
"We are actually very lucky to have each other because we are a very good influence for each other. I think we both push each other very hard," Park said to LPGA.com. "It is always good to have your friend play well, I think. She had her time where she had to look at me and learn from me and to congratulate me and now I get that time back to kind of give it back to her."
In addition to Park and Ryu, Chun In-gee also aims to end her runner-up jinx after finishing second in four events this season. Park Sung-hyun, who was placed third in last year's event, and Amy Yang who has been second in the event twice, are also determined to clinch the title.
Other noteworthy Korean golfers are three high school golfers Choi Hye-jin, Seong Eun-jeong and Kang So-whi. Choi clinched the Korean LPGA Tour's Yongpyong Resort Open as an amateur player two weeks ago and Sung was the first player to win both the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girl's Junior last year.
Since Pak Se-ri claimed the 1998 trophy, seven Korean golfers have won eight of the U.S. Women's Open Championship, making it one of the most acclaimed golf events for Korean fans.
This year's U.S. Women's Open Championship will take place at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey from Thursday to Sunday and a total of 28 Korean golfers will compete for the biggest purse in the women's game of $5 million.
Among them, world No. 1 Ryu So-yeon is one of the contenders for the biggest event in women's golf. The 27-year-old said she wants to repeat the feat she achieved in 2011.
"Since Se-ri won the 1998 U.S. (Women's) Open, it was always my dream back then to win," Ryu told LPGA.com Tuesday. "After I won the U.S. Women's Open, I felt like all my dedication had been paid off. That made me so happy and definitely changed everything in my life and hopefully I can have another U.S. Women's Open victory. Let's see what's going to happen."
Ryu became the world No. 1 after winning the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship last month. She has been the most consistent player this season -- the only one to win two events this year. She won the LPGA Tour's first major championship, the ANA Inspiration, in April.
Noting that she is living the dream after becoming the world No. 1, Ryu said she will focus on what she has to do to prepare for the Open.
"It's sort of really fun because this is what I've been dreaming of and I'm living the dream right now.
"I think the biggest lesson I've ever learned from my psychologist, Dr. Cho, is just to think about what you cannot control and what you can control.
"So, right now I am not thinking about the result which gives me less pressure about the tournament and I really focus on how I'm going to prepare for everything."
Two-time Open winner Park In-bee, who is a close friend of Ryu, said the latter is a good influence on her.
"We are actually very lucky to have each other because we are a very good influence for each other. I think we both push each other very hard," Park said to LPGA.com. "It is always good to have your friend play well, I think. She had her time where she had to look at me and learn from me and to congratulate me and now I get that time back to kind of give it back to her."
In addition to Park and Ryu, Chun In-gee also aims to end her runner-up jinx after finishing second in four events this season. Park Sung-hyun, who was placed third in last year's event, and Amy Yang who has been second in the event twice, are also determined to clinch the title.
Other noteworthy Korean golfers are three high school golfers Choi Hye-jin, Seong Eun-jeong and Kang So-whi. Choi clinched the Korean LPGA Tour's Yongpyong Resort Open as an amateur player two weeks ago and Sung was the first player to win both the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girl's Junior last year.
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