Lydia Ko hits her shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the Kroger Queen City Championship at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio on Sunday. [AFP/YONHAP]

 
The Hana Financial Group Championship tees off Thursday at Bears Best Golf Club in Incheon with Paris Olympic gold medalist Lydia Ko joining a 108-strong field packed with top golfers from the KLPGA and across the world.  
 
 
Ko, 27, joins the field in great form, having not only won the gold medal last month but also her third LPGA title of the 2024 season at the Kroger Queen City Championship on Sept. 22.
 
She also saw victory at the AIG Women’s Open, the 2024 LPGA season’s last major, last month.  
 
Winning the KLPGA’s Hana Championship would be her second title on the Tour after her first at the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters in 2013.  
 
A first Hana Championship title would be another achievement in a trophy-rich career, during which she has won 22 LPGA titles and three Olympic medals — one gold, one silver and one bronze across three Games — to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame as the youngest golfer to do so at 27 years and four months.  
 
She will be competing for a sixth year at the Hana Championship that has seen Korean golfers compete against some strong contenders from around the world.
 
The 2023 tournament also turned out to be a grueling contest, with Lee Da-yeon taking the title after three playoffs against two LPGA golfers — first against Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and Minjee Lee of Australia and second and third against Minjee Lee.
 

Lee Da-yeon hits a shot during the CreaS F&C KLPGA Championship at the Lakewood Country Club in Yangju, Gyeonggi on April 25. [NEWS1]

 
All three of them return to the tournament this year after busy seasons, competing for a winner prize purse of 270 million won ($201,000) from a total 1.5 billion won.  
 
Hana Financial Group will also give the golfer that wins each round a Macau tour package valued at 3 million won and give 3 million won in prize money to any golfer that sets a new course record.  
 
The prizes do not stop there. There will be different prizes for those who make a hole-in-one on any par-3 hole. The first golfer to make a hole-in-one on the fifth hole will win a Carnival Hi Limousine and the first to do so on the 16th will receive a BMW 5-Series.
 
Even those who fail to make the cut will still walk away with 500,000 won.  
 
Defending champion Lee has yet to win a KLPGA title this season, with a joint ninth finish at the Lotte Open in July remaining her best result of the campaign. Winning the Hana Championship again will make her the first golfer to defend the title.  
 
“I really wanted to win this tournament, and I was so happy that I did so in a dramatic manner,” Lee said in a press release Tuesday. “Attempting to defend the title is meaningful itself. Achieving it would make me even happier.
 
“Recovering from injury was my number one objective in the first half of the year. I’ve recovered a lot from it, and my fitness and shots have also been good. I will compete confidently as I believe I’ve prepared diligently.”  
 
Last season’s Hana Championship runner-up Minjee Lee will be in action on the back of three top-10 finishes from the 2024 LPGA season, having yet to claim a title this year.
 

Minjee Lee hits her shot from the seventh tee during the second round of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club on June 14 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. [AFP/YONHAP]

 
Tavatanakit, meanwhile, joins the tournament after one LPGA win this season from the Honda LPGA Thailand in February. The Thai golfer has managed three top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour since then and tied for 60th at the AIG Women’s Open last month.  
 

Patty Tavatanakit hits a tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the Women’s British Open in St Andrews, Scotland on Aug. 23. [AP/YONHAP]

 
Fellow LPGA golfer Kim Hyo-joo returns to her home country with one title already secured this season — the Aramco Team Series individual title on the Ladies European Tour in May. Kim has been in solid form on the 2024 LPGA Tour with two top-10 finishes, but has yet to secure a win.  
 

Kim Hyo-joo hits her shot from the 11th tee during the second round of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club on June 14 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[AFP/YONHAP]

 
KLPGA golfers that have lifted trophies this season are also joining the field, including Moon Jeong-min, who won her first KLPGA title at the Daebo HausD Open last week.  
 
That victory was a huge redemption from her past four KLPGA competitions where she failed to make the cut.  
 
“I realized what factors I lacked as I failed to make the cut consecutively, but I became able to believe in myself as I trained.” Moon said in a press release. “I am challenging for a second straight win, and I think that if I don’t get greedy and focus on my play, a good result will follow.
 
“The Bears Best Golf Club is a suitable course for golfers with long shots. I am trying to play aggressively as I capitalize my long shots, which is my forte.”  
 
Designed by American golf legend Jack Nicklaus, the Bears Best Golf Club has not only hosted the Hana Championship but also other prominent golf tournaments over the years.  
 
This year will see not just defending champion Lee but all past Hana Bank winners in the field: 2022 champion Kim Su-ji, 2021 champion Song Ga-eun, 2020 champion An Na-rin and inaugural champion Jang Ha-na.
 
A Hana Championship victory for any of them would mark the first time anybody has won two titles.  
 
The tournament will be easily accessible to fans who live in the capital area, as the Bears Best Golf Club is located only two minutes by foot from the Cheongna International City station on the Airport Railroad Express line in Incheon.  
 
Even those who come from overseas can go to the course easily by taking the Airport Railroad Express line that connects from Incheon International Airport to the station.  
 
“As this tournament where top golfers from Korea and across the world all compete is taking place at the golf course that is accessible from the Airport Railroad Express line and public transportation, I hope as many golf fans as possible visit the course and enjoy the golf tournament,” a Hana Financial Group official said in a separate press release on Sept. 19.
 
Hana Financial Group is also set to create a lively atmosphere at the tournament by providing a variety of conveniences.  
 
The field will have food trucks, places to eat and rest and space for kids to hang out. There will also be an autograph session through which the fans can meet golfers.  
 
Fans who have yet to purchase tickets for the tournament can still buy them on site. Those who do so with Hana cards can receive a 20 percent discount.  
 
Olympic gold medalist Ko will tee off at 10:44 a.m. on the first hole alongside Park Hyun-kyung and Lee Ye-won, followed by defending champion Lee Da-yeon on the same home at 10: 55 a.m. with Moon and Park Ji-young.  
 
The top 60 players including those who are tied in the second round will make the cut and advance to the next round.  
 
Song Ga-eun and Minjee Lee hold the joint fewest stroke record with a 15-under-par, 269, in 2021. Playoffs have taken place only twice in tournament history.  
 
Rain is expected on Thursday, but the weather is predicted to be clear from the following day and the last two days of the tournament.
 
The Hana Championship precedes the 2024 KLPGA season’s last major Hite Championship teeing off next month. The 2024 season will last through the first week of November, with the SK Shieldus-SK Telecom Championship wrapping up the campaign.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]