Early this month, Chun In-gee (24), South Korean professional golfer cut her hair short. “Love this non-glossy black watch with my short hair,” she said on her social media page, perhaps in a way to show her renewed determination.
Chun surprised the world by winning the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship as an amateur, and clinched her second victory at the Evian Championship in 2016, the year she made her debut in an LPGA Tour. The South Korean golfer’s performances were not strictly poor last year, but she could not earn a single chance to kiss a trophy. Instead, she was ranked second for as many as five times.
At the Kingsmill Championship, the second competition she takes part with her hair bobbed, Chun seemed to be getting out of a long, second-place jinx. Yet, the jinx has won her yet again.
Chun had the third round with three-under-68 at the championship held at Kingsmill Resort River Course (par 71) in Williamsburg, Virginia, on Sunday (local time). Finishing the regulation at 14-under-199, Chun tied with Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) and Nasa Hataoka (Japan), and went onto a three-way playoff. In the 18th hole for the first playoff, Chun was farthest from the cup while the two others recorded a birdie. It was Jutanugarn who clinched the title on the second go-round.
The South Korean player had been in the lead by a stroke until the second round of the championship, reduced to 54 holes from 72 holes due to weather conditions. However, she had to allow her competitors take a last-minute win this time as well. With the latest defeat, Chun has lost her chances to win a title in all of the three playoffs throughout her professional career.
Heon-Jae Lee uni@donga.com