If you are a long-time golf fan, the name Kim Si-won may be somewhat unfamiliar to you.
The name that is familiar to them is ‘Kim Min-seon 5’. As a member of the national team, she won her first win on the KLPGA (Korean Ladies Professional Golf) Tour in 2014, and increased her presence by winning one win every year until 2017. He has won a total of 5 wins including winning the 2020 McCall-Yongpyeong Resort Open, and the prize money he has accumulated so far this season amounts to 2,757.38 million won. His refreshing long shots were considered a strength.
Min-seon Kim5, who took sick leave in April last year due to back pain and ended the season early, changed his name to Si-won Kim and returned to the tour this year. However, he only passed the cut 12 times in 29 competitions, and withdrew 6 times, remaining 89th in the money rankings.
If the season ends like this, Kim Si-won will have to face the seeding match. The path he chose was ‘retirement’.
Kim Si-won served as a caddy carrying the bag of his ‘best friend’ Park Seong-hyun in the SK Shielders-SK Telecom Championship, which was held at the Raviebel Old Course (par 72, 6,805 yards) in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do starting on the 10th. As a player who is about to retire, he must have been greedy as it was a competition that could be his last opportunity to play. However, instead of participating in the competition as a player, he chose to play the role of a companion carrying his friend’s golf bag.
Kim Si-won made his decision to retire official by saying, “I have now decided to quit my career as a player. I was sick and golf was not going as well as I wanted, so I thought it was time to quit (my career as a player).”
Many people were quite surprised by the news of his retirement before the age of 30. The same goes for Park Seong-hyun, who entrusted him with his golf bag during this tournament. Park Seong-hyun said, “When I first heard the news of retirement, I was so heartbroken. I still hope that he will do a little more. That’s why I can’t say congratulations,” with tears in his eyes.
It is bound to not be easy to leave the field you devoted your passion to. The same goes for the fans who have supported him.
However, it seems that it won’t be long before we see Kim Si-won on the field again. She is preparing for a new start as a ‘professional caddy’, a position she has helped with at every competition. Kim Si-won said, “Last year, when I was on tour, I caddied for a fellow player, and it was fun and I felt like I had a talent for it. I like helping others. At this point, I’m thinking about giving it a try as a professional caddy.”
In the final round of the tournament held on the 12th, Lim Jin-hee hit 5 under par 67 strokes and won the championship, beating Da-yeon Lee by 5 strokes with a final total of 16 under par 200 strokes. With this win, Jinhee Lim recorded her 4th win of the season, surpassing Yewon Lee and Jiyoung Park to become the most wins leader. Kim Min-byeol beat Hwang Yu-min and Bang Shin-sil to win the Rookie of the Year Award.
At the KPGA (Korea Professional Golf) Korean Tour LG Signature Championship held at Seowon Course (par 72, 7,000 yards), Seowon Valley CC Valley, Paju, Gyeonggi-do, Shin Sang-hoon won the championship after a fierce battle in the third overtime. 안전놀이터