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How many more LPGA titles will S. Koreans win this year?

October 23, 2014
LPGA

Korean LPGA golfers have been congratulating each other a lot lately.

By Brian Han

After Baek Kyu-jung’s win at the KEB-HanaBank Championship last week, South Korean golfers have won seven of the last nine LPGA events or eight out of ten if you count Lydia Ko, a Seoul-born New Zealander.

These South Korean women are coming in strong and they are coming in young. Baek won her first tournament last week in her first ever LPGA event at the age of 19.  Kim Hyo-joo, also 19, won a major in September at the Evian Championship. Lee Mi-rim, 23, won two LPGA events this year in her rookie season. Then there’s phenom Lydia Ko who also won this year at the age of 17. The average age of South Korean winners this year is 22.5 years old and that’s excluding Ko.

Despite the trend, United States players still outnumber South Koreans in 2014 wins 12 to 8.

No other country has won more than two LPGA titles this year.

Going into this week’s event at the Blue Bay LPGA in China, the top ranked Korean players in the field are No. 18 Lee Mi-rim, No. 23 Amy Yang and No. 26 Chella Choi. The top ranked Americans are No. 6 Michelle Wie, No. 9 Lexi Thompson and No. 12 Cristie Kerr.

Although the odds seem to be leaning toward the American’s side, it has become commonplace in the last 10 events to see South Korean players populate the top of the leaderboard after the first day regardless of their world ranking.

Ever since South Korea eliminated the U.S. from the International Crown event earlier this year, they have been absolutely dominating and as a result momentum is on their side.

With five more events remaining and the South Korean golfers’ recent dominance, there’s a good chance we’ll see a few more before the 2014 season comes to a close.