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Post by HappyFan on Feb 19, 2023 19:36:08 GMT
I did some number crunching to see just how badly the Koreans have been struggling. Currently, there have been 17 straight LPGA events without a Korean winner (of course by that I mean a player representing ROK, so Lydia Ko doesn't count); no Korean has won on tour since In Gee at the KPMG last June.
Here is the current losing streak. I marked the events where there was no Korean close to the winner, or none in the top ten, with italics, and the events where they had players near enough to possibly win with '*'. Bolded events are the ones where the Sisters lost to significantly lower ranked players but probably should have won. As you can see, things are getting worse: since Arkansas, the Koreans only had a realistic chance to win twice, and neither was close.
1. Dow Great Lakes (best: H Kang/T Chan 7 back, t4th)
* 2. Evian (best: Hyo Joo, t-3rd, two back; SYK, Jin Young, So Yeon 4 back)
* 3. Scottish Women's Open (best: Hyo Joo 4 back, t-3rd)
** 4. AIG British (best, In Gee lost playoff; only Korean in top ten)
5. ISPS Handa (best: A Lim Kim, T-18th, 13 back, but no big names there)
** 6. CP Women's Open (best: Hye Jin Choi -2nd, one back, A Lim three back, Na Rin 4 back)
7. Dana Open (best: Hyo Joo/SYK T-13th, 6 back) --
8. Kroger Queen City (best: Six, 4th, 8 back; A Lim t5th 9 back) --
* 9. Portland Classic (win: Andrea Lee. best: Na Rin An, T-3rd, 2 back)
* 10. Walmart NW Arkansas (Chella: 3rd, 1 back)
11. Volunteers of America (SY Ryu t-7th 8 back) --
12. Mediheal (SYK: 4 back, 7th)
13. BMW Championship (Lydia won; Hye Jin, Hyo Joo 3rd, 5 back)
14. Toto Championship (Six, t-14, 11 back) --
15. Pelican Championship (HJ, T-17th, 9 back) --
16. CME Championship (Lydia won; Lee6 5 back, t-4th; Hyo Joo 8 back, t7th)
17. Tournament of Champions (no Koreans in field)
The longest previous losing streak dating back to 2010 was 13 straight at the start of the 2014 season; but once Inbee broke that streak, they went on a tear, winning ten total events that year. 2011 started with 11 straight losses before So Yeon Ryu won the US Women's Open, then there were 8 more losses before Na Yeon won in October. There were only three wins that year.
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Post by drdezmo on Feb 20, 2023 2:39:46 GMT
1. Of course Koreans will win again.
2. No country dominates a sport forever. The Brits used to dominate tennis, then the Australians dominated, then the Americans dominated. Now Eastern Europeans. It's remarkable a small country of 50 million did so well for so long.
Mike
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Post by philknj on Feb 20, 2023 12:02:16 GMT
Answer: Tomorrow when ROK beats JPN and CHN on GolfZon.
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Post by HappyFan on Feb 20, 2023 18:58:03 GMT
Yes, the Koreans will win again. If it isn't one of the old guard, someone from the KLPGA will come along and do it. I can't imagine Hye Jin won't win this year, for instance, and Hae Ran Ryu looks promising.
But my question was not if, but when. I'm not seeing a good trend. At a middling LET event, only one Korean got a top ten, and she finished 9th and is a rookie on the LPGA. What's frankly amazing to me is the none of these great gals is playing decently right now. Some players slumping I would expect, even most slumping isn't that rare, but all of them?
In 2021, Jin Young won the final five events for Koreans that year. She single handedly carried them the second half of the year, other than Six's struggles at the Evian, and of course Six didn't win there though at least she played well. Now, if Jin Young has tamed her wrist trouble and comes back remotely like she used to be, this slump will end shortly. Or if Six finally gets her swing under control. Or In Gee brings her top game to the course more often. Or Sei Young Kim fixes her erratic play. Lots of ifs, but only one or two of those things need to happen for everything to return to a decent tack.
Imagine a year like this:
Sei Young 1 - 2 wins
Jin Young 3 wins
In Gee 2 - 3 wins (she's too good not to have at least one multi-win season in her career)
Hyo Joo gets her usual win
Hye Jin gets the two wins she should have
Hae Ran grabs a win
One of the vets rises up: Ryu, Mi Hyang, Chella, Amy, and gets a win
That would be at least 11 wins. And it doesn't seem so far fetched. I'm not even including Eun Hee Ji, Inbee (who is out this year), A Lim or Six.
So I'm still optimistic, although I suspect it might not be until after Chevron that something starts to happen. So that's my prediction for 'when' the slump ends: April or May.
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Post by tonyj500 on Feb 26, 2023 20:06:34 GMT
They will win more than the four tournaments they won last year, but no country is getting to 11.
Too many countries with good players.
The USA had eight last year with Nelly and D. Kang out half the season and got nothing from Lexi. Vu may win multiple times.
Sweden has these young players that may lead them to an International Crown win.
The trouble with doing it your way is if I go through the top 30 players in the world I can come up to what should be about 50 victories....unfortunatly we have on 32 events.
I do admire your ehthusiasm though, as I always feel the same way, but no country will get 11 wins.
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Post by 18majors on Feb 26, 2023 20:18:16 GMT
They will win more than the four tournaments they won last year, but no country is getting to 11. Too many countries with good players. The USA had eight last year with Nelly and D. Kang out half the season and got nothing from Lexi. Vu may win multiple times. Sweden has these young players that may lead them to an International Crown win. The trouble with doing it your way is if I go through the top 30 players in the world I can come up to what should be about 50 victories....unfortunatly we have on 32 events. I do admire your ehthusiasm though, as I always feel the same way, but no country will get 11 wins. USA has won one out of two, the US is on track to win 16! |
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Post by HappyFan on Feb 26, 2023 22:01:36 GMT
I never predicted they would get 11 wins. I just showed that they COULD get 11 wins without having to have a bunch of players playing much better than they ever have; it's actually within the realm of possibility. And it seems more evident when looked at that way that SOMEONE will start contending again soon and this winless streak won't be eternal. Too many things have to keep going wrong to keep the winless streak going.
Heck, if Jin Young could get herself quickly back to where she was in 2021, 6 wins by HER ALONE is not impossible. But I'm certainly not predicting that; she was solid this week, but I still need more data to see how close she is to getting back to the top.
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Post by HappyFan on Mar 5, 2023 18:25:03 GMT
I don't know if she's back to her top level yet, but Jin Young certainly looked impressive in her win today at the HSBC. The losing streak ended at 18 events. Let's hope Jin Young and the others make sure that doesn't happen again anytime soon!  |
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Post by tonyj500 on Mar 6, 2023 18:06:19 GMT
I don't know if she's back to her top level yet, but Jin Young certainly looked impressive in her win today at the HSBC. The losing streak ended at 18 events. Let's hope Jin Young and the others make sure that doesn't happen again anytime soon! Not sure who I was happier for when that last put dropped, JYK, or you I know it was just 17 tournaments, but it must have felt like years. |
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Post by HappyFan on Mar 6, 2023 21:04:28 GMT
I don't know if she's back to her top level yet, but Jin Young certainly looked impressive in her win today at the HSBC. The losing streak ended at 18 events. Let's hope Jin Young and the others make sure that doesn't happen again anytime soon! Not sure who I was happier for when that last put dropped, JYK, or you I know it was just 17 tournaments, but it must have felt like years. I'm guessing it was probably Jin Young who was happier, but you never know! I'll feel even better if we can get a couple more top Korean stars into contention in the next few events. They should stop depending on Jin Young to do all the heavy lifting all the time. |
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Post by fanofseri on Mar 10, 2023 4:16:39 GMT
Poor Sung Hyun doesn't have a beef with JYK. I'm not sure why Jin Young wants to put Terminator out of business. Only green-eyed golfers are supposed to be jealous.
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