Solar Lee, Katherine Kirk, Suzann Pettersen
8:34 a.m. – 10th Tee
Suzann Pettersen, two-time winner of the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship, returns to action this week in Korea. She’ll play the opening round alongside Katherine Kirk and the KLPGA’s Solar Lee. Pettersen is making her first start since last month’s Evian Championship where she finished tied for 40th. It was her first event back on Tour after a back injury forced her to miss this year’s Solheim Cup. Kirk is in the hunt for her second win of the season, having broke through in July at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic for her first win on Tour in seven years. She has two more top-10s this season and is making her first start in Korea since 2014 when she finished tied for 18th. Lee makes her career on the KLPGA where she is a two-time winner this season.
Carlota Ciganda, Danielle Kang, Min-Sun Kim
9:40 a.m. - 10th Tee
This week in Korea, defending champion Carlota Ciganda returns to the site of her first win on Tour. Ciganda will play alongside major champion Danielle Kang and the KLPGA’s Min-Sun Kim. Ciganda came from five strokes back during the final round last year to defeat Alison Lee on the first playoff hole. She’s played solid again this season with five top-10s and is looking to pick up her first win of the year. She’s coming off a tie for 32nd in her last start at the Evian Championship. Kang won for the first time on Tour in June with her major victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, but then missed a string of cuts riding high on the excitement of her first win. She has made the cut in her last two starts and will look to keep the momentum rolling this week in Korea where she finished tied for 10th last year. Kim also had a solid finish in Korea last season with a tie for third.
Cristie Kerr, Sei Young Kim, Shin Ae Ahn
9:51 a.m. – 1st Tee
Cristie Kerr arrives in Korea fresh off her first victory on the Ladies European Tour where she won the Lacoste Ladies Open de France. The veteran put on an impressive performance last week with rounds of 62-64-68-69 to win by four-strokes. Kerr is paired with Sei Young Kim and the KLPGA’s Shin Ae Ahn during Thursday’s round in Korea. Kim is carrying some momentum into the week as well with at tie for sixth in her last start at the Evian Championship. It was her seventh top-10 of the year in addition to her match play victory in May. Ahn is a member of the KLPGA and in search of her first win of the season.
Michelle Wie, Brooke Henderson, Ji Hyun Kim
10:13 a.m. – 1st Tee
Michelle Wie tees it up this week for the first time since August. The major champion was forced to withdraw from the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open to undergo surgery to have her appendix removed. Now recovered and ready to play, Wie makes her first start in Korea since 2014 when she finished tied for fifth after a tie for third in 2013. This week she’ll look to build on that success and pick up her first win on Tour since 2014. Wie will play alongside the Tour’s most recent winner in Brooke Henderson, who picked up her second win of the year at the MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open. Henderson has made just one start in Korea, in 2016, when she finished tied for 56th. Kim is also a winner this season, on the KLPGA, where she has three wins in 2017.
So Yeon Ryu, Lexi Thompson, Sung Hyun Park
10:35 a.m. – 1st Tee
World No. 1 So Yeon Ryu, No. 2 Sung Hyun Park and No. 3 Lexi Thompson are grouped together on day one in Korea. The three are in a tight race for the season’s biggest honors. Thompson leads the Race to the CME Globe, with Ryu at No. 2 and Park at No. 3. Thompson also leads in scoring average and Park sits at No. 2. Park currently leads the money title with Ryu at No. 2 and Thompson at No. 3. These players have five more weeks to solidify their positions, or make the necessary moves, heading into the final event of the year, the CME Group Tour Championship. Thompson won in Korea in 2015, one stroke ahead of Park.
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