[2021 New Start⑭] ‘Monster Rookie’ Hong Jeongmin "Jump Tour 3 Consecutive Wins Power"

After Joining the First Division Last Year via Jump and Dream Tours, Youngest on the Regular Tour, Powerful Long Hitter Says "Attack Forward"

'19-year-old youngest rookie' Hong Jeong-min expressed confidence, saying, "I will also create a sensation on the KLPGA 1st division tour." Photo by CJ O Shopping

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] There is a player whose name you should remember.

The ‘monster rookie’ Hong Jeong-min (19, CJ O Shopping). Last year, she became the first player in the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour to achieve ‘three consecutive wins in the Jump (3rd division) Tour’. This year, she entered the KLPGA regular tour and has smoothly adapted by making it to the main rounds in all three tournaments since the season opener. She said, "I’m really excited to advance to the 1st division tour," and confidently expressed her ambition, "I want to win Rookie of the Year and, if given the chance, even the Player of the Year award."

Hong Jeong-min started playing golf at the age of six. She gained attention by winning national tournaments from the 2nd year of middle school. She is a promising player who was part of the national training team in 2018 and wore the Taegeuk mark (national team) the following year. In June last year, she joined the KLPGA as a semi-member by winning the KLPGA-Samchully Together Dream Tournament and, after turning professional, placed 2nd in the 5th round of the Volvik-Baekje CC Jump Tour and then won in a playoff in the 6th round.

But that’s not the end. It is interesting that Hong Jeong-min also dominated the 7th and 8th rounds. She set a new milestone with ‘three consecutive wins in the Jump Tour’. In an interview at the time, she said, "I still can’t believe it," and cheered, "I’m happy to engrave my name on a page of KLPGA history with a new record." She continued her unstoppable run after moving to the Dream (2nd division) Tour in July last year.

Although she joined mid-season and did not win, she participated in 12 tournaments and earned prize money in 10 of them. Including two runner-up finishes, she entered the ‘Top 10’ four times and secured a 1st division tour ticket by ranking 16th in the prize money rankings (40.77 million KRW). Hong Jeong-min is the youngest player born in 2002 among those playing in the regular tour. Last winter, she did physical training in Haenam and then spent a month in the United States improving her lacking skills. She explained, "I focused on more accurate shots and short game."

Above all, her long drives averaging over 250 yards stand out. Hong Jeong-min’s role model is Kim Sei-young (28, Mediheal), who is ranked 3rd in the world. She admires Kim’s distinctive aggressive play style. They have a connection from training camps when she was young. She said, "She advised me, ‘Don’t think too much, just focus on the play itself,’" and added, "I still remember that." She is regarded as a ‘monster rookie’ continuing the lineage of Kim Hyo-joo (26) and Choi Hye-jin (22, both Lotte).

Hong Jeong-min said with a smile, "It’s an honor just to be called by a nickname that only the best players like Hyo-joo unnie or Hye-jin unnie can have," and promised, "I will work hard to show a performance beyond that of a rookie. Please watch over me." She conveyed her firm determination, saying, "I think I can grow even more by playing with the unnis, and I want to try winning three consecutive tournaments or even more in the regular tour."