ICHEON — "I still cannot forget the yellow paper airplanes fans threw for me at the awards ceremony when I won here in 2015. I want to experience that moment again, so I really want to win," Jeon In-ji said.
Jeon, a member of the KB Financial Group golf team and a four-time winner on the U.S. LPGA Tour, spoke openly about her desire to win her main sponsor's tournament at a news conference held at Blackstone Icheon Golf Club in Gyeonggi Province, a day before the start of the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour's KB Financial Group Golden Life Championship, which carries total prize money of 1.5 billion won.
Jeon signed a main sponsorship deal with KB Financial Group in 2018 and has maintained the partnership since. She has won five major titles across the Korean, U.S. and Japanese tours, cementing her image as a "major queen."
She won this event in 2015, but at the time she was sponsored by HiteJinro. Now she aims to win the sponsor's tournament as a KB Financial Group golf team member for the first time in 11 years and use it as a springboard for a rebound on tour.
"I am thrilled and excited to meet fans on the KLPGA Tour again after a long time and to play in my main sponsor's tournament," Jeon said. "I will do my best to show a good performance."
Now in her 11th season on the LPGA Tour, Jeon has made an impact despite a light schedule this year, including a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Women's Open. "I have been working with a new swing coach for the past year and a half to make my swing more stable," she said. "I had severe back pain coming from my swing, and getting past that has left my body and mind lighter, which has helped my play a lot. At the U.S. Open in particular, I worked again with the mental coach I had in high school, and finding that peace of mind is what led to the good result."
She said an injury has kept her out of competition since the AIG Women's Open in July. "I injured the tendon in my right middle finger while weight training," she said. "It is an area that takes a long time to heal, so I could not hold a club for a month. But nothing was broken, so I have prepared well to play this tournament in good condition."
Now among the veterans of the Korean contingent on the LPGA Tour, Jeon pointed to the "atmosphere" of mutual motivation as the driving force behind Korean players' strong showing this season. "When Korean players see each other playing well, it motivates us and we draw great inspiration from that atmosphere," she said. "Each player's individual skill is also that good, which is why they keep producing wins on the LPGA Tour."
Defending champion Yoo Hyun-jo of Lotte, who also attended the news conference, expressed strong confidence about winning the same major three years in a row. Yoo claimed her first career title at the 2024 event and successfully defended it in 2025. If she lifts the trophy again, she would become only the second player in KLPGA Tour history after the late legend Ku Ok-hee to win a major three straight times.
"This is where I won my first title as a rookie, and it is the event where I won back-to-back last season, so it is especially meaningful," Yoo said. "I want to play well this year too, but I had a minor injury and rested from practice for about two weeks, which has lowered my expectations for winning. I will play while being grateful that I get to challenge for a third straight title."
Seo Kyo-rim of Samchully, who leads the tour outright with four wins this season, also voiced a strong desire to win. "It was disappointing that I did not post a good result at this event in the 2025 season," she said. "This year I want to play better than last year, and I will do my best to show a good performance."
The tournament, the third major of the 2026 KLPGA Tour season and the 23rd event of the year, runs for four days from the 10th to the 13th at Blackstone Icheon Golf Club, a par-72 course.
Launched in 2006, the event has established itself as one of the KLPGA's signature majors while celebrating the emergence and challenges of numerous stars. It starts anew this year under the name KB Financial Group Golden Life Championship, changed from the KB Financial Group Star Championship.
The winner of this year's event will receive a new champion's trophy. KB Financial commissioned an emerging artist to create it, seeking to carry on the tournament's 20-year history and tradition while reflecting the identity and values of the new name, which conveys accompanying customers on a journey toward an abundant life.
The trophy was made by artist Song In-wook, who received the KB Star Award at "ZOOM-IN," a special exhibition for emerging artists at the 2026 Galleries Art Fair. Song has used wood and metal as primary materials to express growth and expansion in life through sculptural form.
The new trophy shapes solid wood into flowing curves and adds a gold finish to express dignity and trust accumulated over time, along with the value of a life that grows richer as the years pass.
"We hope this trophy will be remembered not only as a memento of the moment of victory but as a work of art that can be kept close and admired for years to come," an official at KB Financial said.
