Juyoung Park (right) is shouting "Fighting" after his tee shot on the 1st hole of the first match in the group stage of the Doosan Match Play Championship. Photo by KLPGA
[Chuncheon (Gangwon Province) = Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Park Ju-young (32, Dongbu Construction), the runner-up of last year's Doosan Match Play, is taking a brief leave from the field.
After finishing the first group league match of the KLPGA Tour Doosan Match Play Championship (total prize money 800 million KRW) held on the 18th at Radena Golf Course in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province (par 72, 6,350 yards), she revealed, "I plan to apply for maternity leave after this tournament." She got married last winter and is now pregnant. She is expected to give birth in September. Initially, she planned to compete until the Lotte Open on June 2 before taking maternity leave, but she changed her mind. "I started feeling changes in my body since last week," she explained.
Park Ju-young and her older sister Park Hee-young (35, Isu Group) are known as the representative ‘sister golfers’ of Korean women's golf. Park Hee-young debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2008 and has won three times in total. Park Ju-young joined the first division tour in 2010 and, although she has no wins yet, she has maintained consistent results. Last year, she entered the ‘Top 10’ six times, including two runner-up finishes. She ranks 17th in prize money (438.94 million KRW). This year, she has participated in every tournament without missing any, marking her seventh consecutive event.
In the first group league match, Park Ju-young defeated Oh Kyung-eun (22) by 7 holes, finishing the match early at the 12th hole (par 5). "I'm glad I could save my stamina," she said, emphasizing, "I have no intention of taking it easy." She added, "Despite marriage and pregnancy, I have not neglected training," but noted, "My driving distance has noticeably decreased." She concluded, "Although I haven't made a final decision yet, I plan to take maternity leave after this tournament."
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