Ko Jin-young Hopes to Defend Title at Season-Ending LPGA Event in Florida

Golfer Ko Jin-young hopes to defend her title at the CME Group Tour Championship although she has yet to recover from a wrist injury.

The season-ending event of the LPGA Tour, which tees off Thursday in Florida, has a total purse of US$7 million and a winner's check of $2 million -- the biggest prize in the history of women's golf.

Ko won back-to-back championships in 2020 and 2021. "I have great memories here… Hopefully this week will be the same as the last two years," she said during a press conference on Tuesday.

Ko was world No. 1 until three weeks ago, but is currently ranked No. 4. She got off to a good start this season, winning the HSBC Women's World Championship in March. But for the past several months she has been struggling with a nagging wrist injury, failing to make the cut in two consecutive LPGA tournaments in August and having to take a two-month break to recover.

Ko returned to tee off at the BMW Ladies Championship last month, but withdrew after two days. She also missed the cut at the Pelican Women's Championship last week.

"It's OK, but not good," Ko said about her wrist, adding that it hurts on every shot, so it remains to be seen how things will turn out.