25 players across 5 teams, combining for 112 LPGA Tour wins; first season set to open in Florida in November and December
South Korean golfer Yoon I-na has been named to the player lineup of the Women's Team Golf League (WTGL), a new team-based competition launched through a partnership between TMRW Sports and the LPGA Tour.
WTGL unveiled the full 25-player rosters for all five inaugural-season teams on Tuesday (Korean Standard Time): Atlanta Drive GC, Boston Common Golf, Los Angeles Golf Club, Motor City Golf Club and New York Golf Club.
The rosters break down by team as follows: Atlanta Drive GC — Charley Hull, Nataliya Guseva, Andrea Lee, Minjee Lee and Yuka Saso; Boston Common Golf — Lottie Woad, Megan Khang, Céline Boutier, Chiji Iwai and Yoon I-na; Los Angeles Golf Club — Michelle Wie West, Alison Lee, Gaby Lopez, Chiara Romero and Aki Iwai; Motor City Golf Club — Jeeno Thitikul, Lexi Thompson, Ruoning Yin, Brooke Henderson and Albane Valenzuela; New York Golf Club — Lydia Ko, Danielle Kang, Rose Zhang, Linn Grant and Jana Melichova.
Yoon, who finished in the top five at both the Chevron Championship and the KPMG Women's PGA Championship this season, will compete for Boston Common Golf alongside world No. 6 Lottie Woad, Megan Khang, Céline Boutier — a seven-time LPGA Tour winner — and Chiji Iwai.
"My interest in golf first began when I visited an indoor screen golf facility with my father," Yoon said. "SoFi Center is a truly special screen golf environment unlike anything else in the world. Playing in the inaugural WTGL season feels like returning to where it all started for me. I'm excited to share this experience with fans in Korea and around the world."
On joining Boston Common Golf, she added: "Lottie, Megan, Céline and Chiji are all outstanding players. I look forward to bringing together each of our different strengths and competing as a team."
The players are expected to showcase a new vision of women's team golf and attract new fans to the sport. Competition begins in November at SoFi Center, a state-of-the-art WTGL-dedicated venue in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Rufus Hack, president of golf at TMRW Sports, said WTGL would deliver "a thrilling new experience for women's golf, with teams made up of world-class LPGA Tour stars and the energy of fans filling SoFi Center." He added that with rosters now finalized, each team's identity and the rivalries between them would begin to take shape in earnest.
The 25 players have combined for 112 LPGA Tour victories and 15 major championship titles, and eight of the top 15 players in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings are among them.
yjc@heraldcorp.com