Minjee Lee wary of Lydia Ko challenge at BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea

SEOUL – Defending champion Minjee Lee on Oct 16 warned that red-hot Lydia Ko will be the player to beat at this week’s BMW Ladies Championship as the LPGA Tour returns to South Korea. Australia’s Lee, born in Perth to South Korean parents, beat American Alison Lee in a play-off to win the 2023 title and returns to compete at Seowon Valley Country Club.

She will face a stiff challenge from 2022 champion Ko, who won Olympic gold in Paris in August and then ended her eight-year Major drought at the Women’s British Open at St Andrews two weeks later. New Zealander Ko also won the LPGA Queen City Championship in Los Angeles in September and Lee knows her rival will be difficult to stop this week.

“You can’t really pick one person because the depth of the field is so deep,” Lee said. “But I do think Lydia has had such a great back half of the year so far. She’s got really great form.” Lee also said she also expects a strong challenge from China’s Yin Ruoning, who won her fourth LPGA title last week in Shanghai, and South Korea’s Ryu Hae-ran, a winner at TPC Boston in September.

Also competing this week are world No. 2 Lilia Vu, two-time Major winner Yuka Saso, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and American Lauren Coughlin. Defending champion Lee has yet to win a title in 2024 and she said the course for the 72-hole, no-cut event was in better shape than in 2023. “There’s much more grass on pretty much every single green,” she said.

“There are a few patches but I think now to worry about. Overall, I think the greens are in really good condition.”
One thing she does not need to worry about is world No. 1 Nelly Korda. She withdrew from the next two tournaments on the LPGA Tour’s Asia swing after hurting her neck during practice, the American announced on Oct 14.

The first of those tournaments is the BMW Ladies Championship, which starts on Oct 17. Players will head to Kuala Lumpur for the Maybank Championship the following week. “Unfortunately, I’ve had to withdraw from the LPGA events in Korea and Malaysia due to a minor neck injury I sustained while practising,” Korda posted on social media on Oct 14.

“I’m disappointed to miss these events and am especially sorry to my fans who were looking forward to seeing me play. I’m currently resting and working with my team to get better. Thank you for all your support – it truly means the world to me!” She did not say when she plans to return to competition.

All six of Korda’s victories in 2024 came before June. She won on five consecutive starts, culminating at the Chevron Championship, her second career major title. The 26-year-old currently holds a roughly 1,235-point lead over Ko in the season-long Race to the CME Globe standings. Korda has yet to win the season-long championship. AFP, REUTERS