Defending Champion Go Jiwon Feels at Home in Jeju

Aiming for a second consecutive title at the S-OIL Championship
Recorded her third career win at The Siena Open in April
Sister golfer of Go Jiwoo; two of her wins have come in Jeju alone

Sister golfers Go Jiwon is aiming to defend her title on home soil.

Go Jiwon will seek to defend her title at the S-OIL Championship, a Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour event with a total purse of 1 billion won, which begins on Oct. 29 at the Lake and Pine courses of Elysian Jeju in Jeju City, Jeju Province (par 72, 6,924 yards). At last year's tournament in November, she held off Seo Gyorim's challenge to claim the title. She earned her first regular-tour victory at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in August last year, then recorded her third career win at The Siena Open in April.

Ko Jiwon aims to win back-to-back titles at the S-OIL Championship. Courtesy of KLPGA.

Hailing from Jeju Province, Go has earned two of her three career victories there. She has excelled in strong winds and on challenging greens. Go is also known as the sister of Go Jiwoo, who has four career wins. The sisters set a rare record as the second pair of sisters to win on the KLPGA Tour, after Park Heeyoung and Park Juyoung.

Go earned her tour card through qualifying school in 2022 and joined the regular tour the following year. She finished outside the top 60 on the money list in both her rookie and second seasons, losing her tour card and having to go through qualifying school three times. Until then, she had made little impact. Last year, she played mainly on the Dream Tour, the KLPGA's second-tier tour, and could only enter regular-tour events when spots became available as a conditional entrant. Despite her uncertain status, she showed her trademark determination and developed into one of the tour's top golfers.

Go has maintained a strong pace this year as well. She has played in 23 tournaments, recording one win and six top-10 finishes. She ranks 14th in grand prize points with 213 and 18th on the money list with 453,915,953 won. "I feel at ease when I come to Jeju," Go said. "I hope to play well again this time."

Super rookie Kim Minsol is aiming to surpass 1.6 billion won in season earnings. With three wins this year, she is the dominant player on tour, leading the money list with 1,590,079,428 won and the Rookie of the Year points standings with 2,608 points. She ranks second in grand prize points with 525 and in scoring average at 70.7895. Lee Jeongeun6, who plays on the U.S. LPGA Tour, will also compete as an invited player. Seo Gyorim, who is experiencing rib pain, has opted to rest. She has won four times this season and leads the tour in multiple wins, grand prize points with 563, and scoring average at 70.6405.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.