Jin Young Ko returns to Singapore this week having won back-to-back HSBC Women's World Championship titles, beating Nelly Korda in 2023 and Minjee Lee in 2022; watch the HSBC Women's World Championships live on Sky Sports Golf from Thursday February 29 at 4:30am.
Wednesday 28 February 2024 06:07, UK
Defending champion Jin Young Ko says she is feeling relaxed ahead of the 16th edition of the HSBC Women's World Championships, which starts on Thursday at the Sentosa Golf Club.
The LGPA Tour season will see its fourth event being played this week and Ko - who beat Nelly Korda by two strokes in 2023 and cleared Minjee Lee by two strokes in 2022 - says she is feeling good ahead of her search for a third straight title in the competition.
"When I'm in Singapore, I feel like, really calm. I don't know why, I like to play at this golf course," said the reigning champion.
"When I'm seeing a lot of trees, it is sometimes hard to see because pro golfers are always afraid (of) playing in the trees. But when I'm looking at the trees, it looks really all (the) trees. So, it makes me (feel) more calm and...good, relaxed."
Ko made her season debut last week in Thailand, to kick off her seventh year on the LPGA Tour with a T20 finish. It was a good chance for the 28-year-old to assess her game, as she returned to competition for the first time since withdrawing from the 2023 CME Group Tour Championship with a knee injury.
"I just wanted to see how can I play, last week, because I took off seven or eight weeks from last year, so I wanted to see how can I play," said Ko.
"But yeah, it was good. I mean, like some shots, I didn't like it but some putts and some short game was good. So, I want to keep momentum from Thailand to here and I want to keep continuation from last week and this week."
Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit will again be one to watch ahead of this tournament after her wins in back-to-back weeks on the Ladies European Tour and the LGPA Tour.
After a three-year break Tavatanakit took a dominant win at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, and followed that up with a victory in her home country at the Honda LPGA Thailand last week, winning by a single shot.
It was Tavatanakit's first win on the LPGA Tour since her breakthrough major victory at The Chevron Championship in 2021, in the same year she finished tied for third in Singapore, her career-best result in the event.
"That tournament kind of a starting point of me dreaming of playing on the LPGA Tour, because I got invited as an amateur, and I had the opportunity to play amongst the best at a very young age," said Tavatanakit.
"So I saw myself being in the stage and then I knew right away it's something I wanted to do. And to be able to go back and cap it off at where it all started, it was very special.
"Even before the win, I felt really confident with my game, like again I had a good plan and I'm just sticking to it. So regardless of the outcome or how I'm gonna play, I feel, at the end of the day, I feel pretty content with how I prepare and that's like all you can really do."
Watch the HSBC Women's World Championship live from Sky Sports Golf from 4.30am on Thursday. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more on NOW.
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