KLPGA Living Legend Ahn Sun-joo Challenges New Sponsors and New History
KLPGA Living Legend Ahn Sun-joo Challenges New Sponsors and New History
Blog Article
Ahn Sun-joo (38, Man Soo-jung), a golf genius and living legend, will mark the fourth year of her return to the KLPGA tour with a new sponsor in 2025. Ahn won seven KLPGA wins since her debut in 2005 and challenged the qualifying school of the LPGA tour in late 2008, beating over Michelle Wie, the genius girl of the U.S. golf. However, she gave up on the LPGA due to a chronic leg injury and started a new challenge with the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (JLPGA) tour the following year, winning four wins each in her first year and the following year, earning 28 JLPGA wins for the second consecutive year. "STN News" heard Ahn Seon-joo, who achieved a career-high 35 wins in Korea and Japan to become a permanent seed in the KLPGA, about her commitment to the new season.
-Do you have any resolutions for the season and anything you want to say to your juniors as the oldest member of the KLPGA Tour?
"I think I'm trying harder because I'm the oldest in the tour, so let's not be a burden to my juniors, and I think taking care of my body is the most important thing after 20 years of touring. My juniors who are just starting out are in their early 20s, and I want to tell them that it's more important to take care of them and run for a long time now than to say, 'It's okay because they're still young.' "
Are there any postures and burdens on the tour as a permanent seed?
"It's actually more burdensome because I'm a permanent seed. I've never thought about practicing or playing games roughly. When I played in Korea in the first year after my return, I felt very sorry because I felt that someone was taking away my place. So I played hard throughout the year thinking that I should be seeded on my own. That way, I feel less sorry for my juniors. It was the hardest thing to do every year to renew my commitment. I have to set an example for my juniors, so it's a burden to worry about my skills and actions. However, now I have decided to play happy golf, which I can laugh and enjoy."
-What's the difficulty of having twin children growing up as a mother and touring in parallel?
"Twins have grown so much in the months I haven't seen them, and I want to say thank you to my mother and husband so much. I don't get to spend time with them very often because I'm a sports mom, but it breaks my heart when they cry and say they miss me. I know this is the time when their mother is needed most, but I'm also cheering them up, thinking about their future because I feel it is their youngest and the fewest precious time to play golf. What's more I want is to win the trophy with them. Then I think they will understand what's going on and how Mom feels when they grow up a little bit."
-I think you've completely adapted to the tour, how long do you want to be a player?
"Actually, I don't get used to playing games anywhere. When I was young, I thought I could do well in any country, but now I play games with the mindset of 'Don't get hurt and don't regret it'. I think I get tired faster than younger juniors, maybe because of my age. But I want to be greedy and do it until I turn 40, but wouldn't it be at least a year or two at the most?"
-What do you want to say when the main sponsor has been changed to Man Soo Jung?
"I'm always grateful to CEO Man Soo-jung, Kim Min-soo. He is like a benefactor who has always been by my side since I was in Japan when I was unable to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic or when I was pregnant. All the sponsors are grateful and precious, but CEO Man Soo-jung is like a family to me. He is the first person to come forward when I am having a hard time, so my first goal is to repay him by winning the title this year when I wear the main sponsor hat." 안전놀이터
Ahn Sun-joo, who has been in her 21st year since debut, has not received the spotlight despite her outstanding performance, but she is rewriting the history of the KLPGA with her determination to overcome the irrationality given to her. Although she has achieved outstanding performance since her debut, she has suffered from difficulties in sponsorship contracts, so she jumped into the Japanese tour on her own and proved everything with just her skills, which has been a force for the current Ahn Sun-joo.
Ahn, who has a late wedding ceremony with swing coach and professional golfer Sungho Kim in December 2023, 10 years after she registered her marriage, and is touring as a mother golfer while raising cute twin brothers and sisters (Kim Tae-rin and Tae-yul), said, "This season with our new sponsor is so precious." We hope that she and the twins will be able to make a page in history by lifting up the trophy.