"Why is that player here?"
At the Lotte Open, which runs through the 5th at BearsBest Cheongna Golf Club in Incheon, one American player became the talk of the tournament. She is Auston Kim (26), in her third year on the U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour.
Unlike Kim Hyo-joo, Choi Hye-jin, or Hwang Yu-min, who are LPGA Tour players but belong to Lotte and thus play in the sponsor's tournament, she did not appear for that reason. Nor was she invited by the organizers. According to accounts, the player's father inquired with the organizers about whether there was any way to enter, and the organizers connected them to the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA), which made her participation possible.
Among the 15 eligibility categories for entering the KLPGA regular tour, the sixth is "those ranked 1st to 30th in the Rolex Women's World Rankings for that year (as of the Tuesday six weeks before the tournament)." Auston Kim is currently ranked 22nd in the world, and she was also in the top 20 six weeks earlier.
It is extremely rare for a foreign-national player to enter a KLPGA Tour event using "eligibility category No. 6" rather than through an invitation or similar format. In 2023, Linn Grant of Sweden, then a strong player on the European tour, played in several KLPGA Tour events, and Miyu Yamashita of Japan also competed last March. However, the tournament Yamashita entered was held on a course in Thailand.
Both Lotte officials and KLPGA Tour officials looked puzzled at the sight of Auston Kim competing in Cheongna. That is because she is one of the LPGA Tour's marquee players, boasting results such as a tie for second at last year's major KPMG Women's PGA Championship and a solo second at this year's HSBC World Championship.
So why exactly did she come here? Auston Kim, after finishing her second round on the 4th, said, "Because I kept playing the BMW Championship (an LPGA Tour event held in Korea), I really wanted to play a KLPGA Tour event too."
Even though it was a grueling schedule—finishing the major KPMG event in the United States, stopping by Korea, and then having to fly to France on Sunday night to play the major Evian Championship—Auston Kim instead smiled and said, "The schedule lined up perfectly. I thought I could play in Korea during a week with no LPGA event and then head off." Her caddie came along as well. "The travel and the food will be tough, but he still came with me," she said.
That aside, why exactly did she want to play a KLPGA Tour event? Auston Kim said, "I felt a sense of regret about leaving Korea after playing only the BMW event once a year," adding, "Korean golf fans are special. In the U.S. it's just a spectator culture, but Korean people call out your name and shout cheers, supporting you constantly. I love that atmosphere."
A second-generation immigrant, Auston Kim was born in New York State and grew up in Florida, but she speaks Korean well. She explained, "I learned it from my grandmother and grandfather in the U.S., and I took Korean classes in college (Vanderbilt University). I took them for two years." Her close Korean friends include Kim Sei-young, Lim Jin-hee, and Jeon In-ji. She and Kim Sei-young also teamed up at last year's Dow Championship, a two-player team event.
Auston Kim, who ate samgyeopsal after finishing the first round, said she wanted to eat samgyeopsal that day too. On the first day she struggled to adjust to the time difference, sleeping for five hours right after her round and waking up at night. She said, "I think I played almost half-asleep for two days," yet she showed off drives of more than 280 yards and comfortably made the cut.
When talking about his daughter, Auston Kim's father kept saying "Go-eun did this" and "Go-eun did that." Her Korean name is Kim Go-eun. Judging that golf would be a medium to open various opportunities in the future, he introduced his young daughter to golf, and she posted clear results from her junior days. Since becoming a tour pro, she has been opening chances for her father to visit his home country like this. Her father said he hopes his daughter will play one or two KLPGA Tour events a year, starting with this one.
Auston Kim is unusual among LPGA Tour players in that she has no professional swing coach. She said, "My dad is my coach. He doesn't have anything like professional certification, but I trust him completely," adding, "There are a few players on tour who have their fathers as coaches. But there's no case like my dad, who travels the tour together with his daughter." In 2023, she dramatically earned her regular tour card by winning the season finale of the Epson Tour, the second-tier stage, and at that time her mother served as her caddie.
Auston Kim came to Korea after posting a strong result of a tie for fifth at the recent KPMG event. When told there was hope she would keep up the pace through the end of the season, she said, "I hope so, but it's okay even if not." "Until recently there was a rough patch, but I think golf is like that. There have to be times when things don't work out for the desire to do well to grow stronger, and then a time when things go well comes around again. I've posted good results recently, but a time when things don't go my way will come again, so I have to calmly prepare for it."
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