The LPGA Tour’s swing through Asia rolls on for the second straight week at the BMW Ladies Championship in the Republic of Korea. The fifth edition of the tournament will see a limited field of 78 players compete over the course of 72 holes in the no-cut event for a purse of $2.2 million. Here’s a closer look at five things you need to know about this week’s LPGA Tour stop.

Minjee Lee Defends

In 2023, Minjee Lee came into the final round of the BMW Ladies Championship tied for the 54-hole lead with Ashleigh Buhai. But ultimately it was Alison Lee who played her way into a playoff with Minjee, who went on to defeat Alison with a six-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to win for the second time last season. Minjee Lee returns to Korea fresh off a tie for eighth showing on Sunday at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, where the Australian was in the hunt heading into the weekend but faded with rounds of 71-69. She will continue searching for her first win of the year this week at Seowon Valley Country Club.

The Field

An impressive list of players are poised to compete in the Republic of Korea, with Lilia Vu, the No. 2 player in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, headlining the field. Vu is making her first start since a tie for 58th at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G last month and is returning to Korea, where she has had success in the past, having tied for third in 2022. Vu already has three top-10 finishes in addition to a win this season on the LPGA Tour.

Also in action again this week is Ruoning Yin, who won last week at the Buick LPGA Shanghai to earn her fourth career victory on the LPGA Tour. The win marks the second of the season for Yin, who also captured the Dow Championship alongside her playing partner Jeeno Thitikul, who is also in the field this week in Korea. Last week in Shanghai, Thitikul picked up her ninth top-10 finish of the season with a T5 performance at Qizhong Garden Golf Club.

Lauren Coughlin is making her first start of the Asia swing in Korea and is teeing it up for the first time since the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, where she missed the cut. Coughlin will look to get her red-hot season back on track, as she has already picked up two wins and an additional six top 10s this year. Coughlin tied for 10th in Korea in 2023.

Ten sponsor invitations were extended to players to compete in this week’s BMW Ladies Championship, and four of those invitations were given to major champions Jiyai Shin, Jeongeun Lee6, Eun-Hee Ji and Danielle Kang, who was runner-up in Korea in 2019.

Lydia Ko Chasing Win No. 3

The latter half of the season has been the stuff of dreams for Lydia Ko, who, after capturing Olympic gold, went on to win her third major championship at the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews. After taking nearly a month off from competition, Ko promptly won again in her return to action at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, and the Kiwi will seek to keep her winning streak rolling this week in the Republic of Korea, where she is in pursuit of her third win of the season. Ko also won the Tour’s season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. Although her last start on the LPGA Tour came in the Queen City, she did compete in recent weeks at the KLPGA’s Hana Financial Group Championship, where her coach Si Woo Lee was on the bag for Ko and where the duo finished 10th for the week. Ko won the BMW Ladies Championship in 2022, which was played on a different course from this year’s tournament.

Brooke Henderson is Back

Brooke Henderson is making her return to competition this week in Korea for what will be her first start since missing the cut at the AIG Women’s Open in August. The Canadian opened up during the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship about struggling to find the same sort of excitement and motivation that she had in the early part of her career. Although Henderson has yet to win this season on the LPGA Tour, she has amassed seven top 10s already this year. She has made just two prior starts at the BMW Ladies Championship, where she tied for 22nd in 2023 and tied for 38th in 2019.

Tournament History

For the second consecutive season, the Seowon Hills Course at Seowon Valley Country Club will play host to the BMW Ladies Championship. The course, which opened in 2004, will play to a par 72 for this week’s tournament at roughly 6,666 yards. The course is located about an hour's drive north of Seoul and is widely considered one of the top venues in Korea. This year marks the fifth playing of the tournament, which was first held in 2019 and won by Ha Na Jang. In 2021, Jin Young Ko won the second edition of the event, which was not contested in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ko is not in the field this week as she’s been dealing with injury.

Five Things to Know About the 2024 BMW Ladies Championship

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