사진 확대
Lotte Group has decided to make a big investment to elevate the Lotte Championship on the LPGA Tour to a major level. It plans to raise the status of the Lotte Championship by increasing the total prize money, establishing a new player support fund, and improving the environment of the golf course in the five-year renewal.
According to the golf industry on the 5th, Lotte Group, which has been hosting the Lotte Championship since 2012, has agreed to extend its five-year contract with the LPGA Tour. As a result, Lotte Group will hold the Lotte Championship until 2031.
Starting with the Lotte Mart Women’s Open on the KLPGA Tour in 2008, Lotte Group has contributed greatly to strengthening its golf status in Korea by earnestly sponsoring golf. In 2012, the LPGA Tour Lotte Championship was established, and since then, the golf team has been established to help Kim Hyo-joo, Choi Hye-jin, and Hwang Yoo-min spread their wings on the world stage.
The Lotte Championship has not just extended the period with this contract. In partnership with the LPGA Tour, Lotte Group will work simultaneously to upgrade the status of the Lotte Championship to the next level. First of all, the competition, which was held in October every year, will be held in March from next year. It will also change the golf course where the tournament will be held. Until last year, Kapalua Golf Club in Maui, Hawaii, USA, where the opening game of the PGA Tour was held, was selected as the new venue.
사진 확대 Gino Thitikul and Yoon Na-na, who competed to win the Lotte Championship on the final day of the LPGA Tour on the 5th (Korea Standard Time), hug each other after the game. AFP Yonhap News Agency
The biggest reason why the LPGA Tour changed the timing of the Lotte Championship to March is to increase the participation of top rankers by establishing a “Hawaii Swing” with the consecutive Nana Cup. LPGA Tour players expressed satisfaction with the news. “It is true that it was burdensome to go to Hawaii to compete in one tournament,” said a player who is active on the LPGA Tour. “As two tournaments will be held next year, more top rankers are likely to participate in the Hawaii swing.”
Lotte Group has also set up a new $250,000 player stay support fund to improve the welfare of the participating players and to live a stable tour life. An LPGA Tour official explained, “It is a decision to improve the LPGA Tour environment and help players grow beyond just sponsoring the tournament.”
The Lotte Championship is also serving as a global ladder for discovering new stars like Hwang Yoo-min, who won the top prize last year. Hwang Yoo-min, who played in the KLPGA Tour, participated in the tournament as an invited player and won the championship last year, and won the LPGA Tour.
Lotte Group is also continuing its investment in domestic golf development by holding the KLPGA Tour Lotte Open. The most noticeable thing is the golf club that includes Kim Hyo-joo, Choi Hye-jin, Hwang Yoo-min, and Yoo Hyun-jo. He is also putting a lot of effort into finding promising players. Lotte Golf Club recruited an amateur player for the first time last year.
An official from Lotte Group said, “With the full support of Chairman Shin Dong-bin, we will not stop investing in the development of the LPGA Tour and strengthening the status of Korean golf,” adding, “We will further expand our win-win management with the Hawaiian community that has lasted for 15 years.”
Meanwhile, Gino Thitikul (Thailand) won the Lotte Championship, which ended at the Hoacalay Country Club in Oahu Eva Beach, Hawaii. He recorded a total of 21-under 267, beating Yun I-na by three strokes. Yoon Na-na swallowed her disappointment at the tee shot mistake on the 17th hole. Yoon Na-na, who tied with a teeticker on the 16th hole, dropped her tee shot in the water on the 17th hole and wrote a painful bogey. In the end, he failed to come from behind in the remaining holes and had to be satisfied with the runner-up.
[Reporter Lim Jungwoo]