Choi Hye-jin, who has finished runner-up nine times on the LPGA Tour without a win. [Herald Sports DB]
Choi Hye-jin, who has finished runner-up nine times on the LPGA Tour without a win. [Herald Sports DB]

American golf publication Golfweek has turned its attention to Choi Hye-jin's string of near-misses. On Wednesday, Golfweek published an online article headlined: "Find out where this LPGA player's 9 runner-up finishes without a win rank in history."

That LPGA player is Choi Hye-jin. Starting with a runner-up finish at the US Women's Open in 2017, when she was 17, Choi has recorded nine second-place finishes across 125 tournaments — most recently at last week's BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea. Along the way, she has earned more than 10 billion won ($7,707,551) in prize money without a single victory.

The record is the most runner-up finishes on the LPGA Tour since 1981. The next closest is Stephanie Farwig of the United States, who finished second six times between 1983 and 1997 without ever winning. Among active players, Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand is nearest to Choi's mark with five runner-up finishes, while Allison Lee of the United States and Esther Henseleit of Germany each have four.

The player offering Choi the most hope is Lorie Kane of Canada. Kane had nine runner-up finishes before breaking through for her first win at the 2000 Michelob Classic.

Speaking ahead of last week's BMW Ladies Championship, Choi reflected on her recent near-miss. "I held the lead until the final round in Shanghai last week, and the result was so disappointing," she said. "But there will be many more opportunities ahead, so I won't give up hope. If I wait with patience, the moment will come. I played well at this tournament last year, and my journey toward a win will continue."

Choi will look to claim her first LPGA Tour victory this week at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia. She is paired with Lottie Woad of England and Mirabel Ting of Malaysia for the first two rounds.

Choi arrives in Malaysia in strong form, having finished runner-up in back-to-back weeks at the Buick LPGA Shanghai and the BMW Ladies Championship. At last year's Maybank Championship, she reached a playoff but lost to Miyu Yamashita of Japan, settling for another second place. She will be hoping to reverse that outcome this week.


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