The aspiring professional golfer’s wish is to become a regular tour player of the Korean Women’s Professional Golf Association (KLPGA). Only 120 seats are allowed. In the golf world, it is estimated that there are well over 10,000 people who are greedy for the title of ‘Part 1 player’. This is why it is not easy to cross the wall between the Jump (part 3) tour and the Dream (part 2) tour. Ahn So-hyun (28) is a player who entered the KLPGA regular tour three times. Even after failing seven times, he stood up like a tumbleweed. Golf players say that once they are pushed out of the regular tour, it feels impossible to re-enter. It is because his self-confidence drops to the bottom when he loses repeatedly in competitions with top players. It’s also realistically tough as he has to pour money and time back into it. Ahn So-hyun’s ‘revival’ is a special reason.
Ahn So-hyun, who met with the Korea Economic Daily on the 6th, was full of anticipation. He said, “I’m so nervous thinking about returning to the KLPGA regular tour even though I’ve already experienced it twice.” He didn’t feel the loss of two tour exits. He made his professional debut in 2013 and first entered the KLPGA Tour in 2017. However, he immediately lost his seed (qualification). As soon as he came back in 2020, he lost his seed again.
After struggling and knocking again, I was finally able to get a spot on this year’s regular tour through the seeding match (16th place). The surest way to advance to the regular tour is to finish in the top 20 on the money list while playing on the Dream Tour. However, Ahn So-hyun only ranked 85th last year. Another way is to climb to the top of the seed rankings메이저사이트 called ‘KLPGA CSAT’. The results of the seeding match are a kind of ‘number table’. There are many competitions where you need to get a front number ticket. Mostly, players within the 20th place are classified as ‘reliable’, but Ahn So-hyun, who ranked 16th, became qualified to participate in most competitions. Ahn So-hyun said, “Last year’s Dream Tour performance was not good, so I thought I would try to win somehow through the seed ranking match.” ” he said.
Even on the regular tour, which is difficult to enter, it is the top-ranked players who are in the spotlight. Considering this, the interest poured into Ahn So-hyun is enormous enough to be inversely proportional to her grades. As the modifiers given by fans such as ‘beautiful golfer’ and ‘smile angel’ suggest, ‘Cloud Gallery’ flocks to the competitions he participates in. The sponsors of the tournament have been scrambling to invite him as a recommended player for the past few years, as he has had limited regular tour appearances due to lack of a seed.
Ahn So-hyun, who knows this better than anyone else, did not try to hide her popularity. He said, “I think that in order for fans to be interested in golf (as much as golf), a player with a ‘personality’ is needed in appearance.” I think it is necessary for the popularization of golf that players with more diverse charms appear.” Of course, Ahn So-hyun said, “That doesn’t mean I neglected my main job, golf.” Ahn So-hyun, who is in her late 20s, knows better than anyone else that her ‘athlete life’ has entered the latter half. He said, “So, I am preparing for this season with my own spirit.”
The ‘new weapon’ he equipped is a long shot. It is said that the tee shot, which was about 210m last year, has now been increased to 230m. Last year, the average drive distance of the KLPGA Tour was about 220m, so it is worth classifying as a long hitter group. Ahn So-hyun explained, “Originally, I was on the side of getting a lot of distance, but the difference between the left and right was severe, so I’ve ‘sealed’ the distance.” At the same time, he said, “I will continue to focus on increasing the distance before the season,” and promised, “I will do my best to win the first regular tour this year.”