Jang Ha-na, 31, a 15-time winner on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour, can’t seem to break out of her slump. This time, she missed the cut after shooting an 88 in one round.
Jang carded six birdies and five double bogeys for a 16-over-par 88 in the first round of the KLPGA Tour’s Jeju Samdasu Masters (total prize money: 1 billion won) at Blackstone Jeju (par 72-6626 yards) in Jeju City, Jeju Island, on Wednesday.
As of 1:40 p.m., Jang had the lowest score among players who have finished or are in play, and she has been ruled ineligible for the second round.
Since 2010, the KLPGA has had an automatic cutoff of 88 regardless of the standard score. This was changed to a 16-over-par cutoff in 2020.
This is the third time this season that a 16-over-par cut has been imposed on the KLPGA Tour. Previously, amateur Kwak Ye-bin (17-over-par 89) missed the cut in the first round of the Pacific Links PLK Championship last December and Shin Yoo-jin (19-over-par 91) missed the automatic cut in the first round of the Celltrion Queens Masters in June.
For Jang, it was her first career disqualification.
Jang Hana is one of the star players in women’s golf. With 15 career wins on the KLPGA Tour, she is fifth on the all-time wins list behind Koo Ok-hee, Shin Ji-ae (20+), Park Min-ji (18), and Ko Woo-soon (17).
She has also competed in the United States, winning five times on the Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour.
She has 20 career wins on both the KLPGA and LPGA tours.
While she showed off her rusty skills with two wins on the KLPGA Tour in 2021, she has experienced a sharp decline since last year.
She has missed the cut in 11 of her 14 tournaments since July last year. He withdrew from the KB Financial Star Championship, where he was the defending champion.
This season has been even worse. Of the 14 tournaments she played in before this one, she missed the cut in eight and withdrew from five.
The only tournament she has won a prize was the Doosan Matchplay Championship in May. She lost all three of her qualifying matches and failed to advance to the tournament, earning $3.19 million in prize money.
Jang has a stroke average of 81.85 this season, with 14 of her 19 rounds in the 80s. However, in this tournament, she shot an 88 in the first round, her worst score of the season.
Meanwhile, with afternoon play underway, 고스톱 Lee So-young (26-Lotte) is currently in sole possession of the lead at 5-under-par.
