Kim Joo-hyung, who is currently active in the PGA Tour, and Yoon Na-na, who made her LPGA debut as a rookie this year, are next-generation prospects representing Korean men's and women's golf.
Kim Joo-hyung, who was born in 2002, achieved two wins since his debut in the professional league in 2018, and became the youngest player to win the KPGA tour, and immediately advanced to the U.S. stage without going through the qualifying school in 2022. He won the Wyndham Championship and the Shriners Children's Open in his first year of debut, attracting attention from golf fans around the world as he became the first golfer to achieve two wins before the age of 21 since Tiger Woods (U.S.). Yun In-na, who was born in 2003, debuted as a professional in 2021 and became the top prize winner with one win in the KLPGA Division 3 Jump Tour and two wins in the Division 2 Dream Tour, becoming the first part of the tour. Yun In-na, who is 170 centimeters tall and boasts a long shot as much as a male player, won "Wire to Wire" at the Queen's Crown in Ever Collagen in 2022, her first year of debut. However, shortly afterwards, she was found to have hidden the violation of the rules at the Korean Women's Open, and was given a three-year suspension by the Korea Golf Association and the KLPGA Tour. Fortunately, Yun-na, who returned to the tour last year as a result of disciplinary measures, won only one championship, but became the best player on the Korean Women's Tour by winning the prize money, the lowest par prize, and the grand prize.
Besides being promising players who will take responsibility for the future of Korean golf, they have many similarities. They often fail to control their emotions due to excessive desire to win, causing controversy or taking sides.
After losing the Genesis Championship overtime last year, Kim Joo-hyung was disciplined by the KPGA Tour for breaking the door of the locker. In the final round of the first round of the PGA Tour Playoff, he also damaged the green by hitting the putter after failing to putt, and was embroiled in controversy for his rude behavior that did not consider the opponent team at the Presidents Cup. Kim threw the club away after making a mistake in a shot at the Sony Open held in Hawaii earlier this year, and in the aftermath, his performance plummeted to the bottom the next day.
Yoon In-na was also caught by a game commissioner on the spot after subtracting the number of strokes that swung and missed at Nexen's St. 9 Masters last year, even though she had been disciplined for concealing a rule violation. In Doosan Match Play, putting was done first by violating the order without the consent of the opponent, causing an accident of putting again. In the Wymix Championship 2024, when the game was decided after losing to the lower-seeded Kim Min-sun by a large margin, he practiced meaningless putting alone instead of congratulating her.
The two were also similar in that they had full support and involvement from their parents in growing up as sports players, and that they broke up with their agencies or sponsors, who received a lot of help in their difficult times after their success, and received negative reviews from some people. It is clear that they are golfers with extraordinary talent and skills, but it is also true that golf fans' eyes on the two have mixed expectations and concerns for one reason or another. 메이저사이트
In order to succeed as a star who is loved and respected by fans in modern sports, it is not enough to have excellent skills and performance. Patrick Reed of the U.S., who won a major championship but was stigmatized as the "most ugly Masters champion of all time" for violating rules and cheating, or Michelle Wie, a Korean American golfer who retired without meeting expectations due to frequent rule violations, abstaining from trickery, and sexual confrontation. I sincerely hope that the two players, who will represent Korea on the global stage, will grow into respected players with both skills and personality.