'Rim-Sol showdown' goes on the attack at HJ Shipbuilding & Construction·Dongbu Championship

The KLPGA Tour's HJ Shipbuilding & Construction·Dongbu Championship tees off Thursday at A-One Country Club (par 72, 6,504 yards) in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, running for four days.

A total of 108 players will compete for a purse of 1 billion won ($736,000), with the winner taking home 180 million won. The tournament is the only event on the KLPGA Tour played under a modified Stableford format, awarding 8 points for an albatross, 5 for an eagle, 2 for a birdie, 0 for a par, minus-1 for a bogey and minus-3 for a double bogey or worse.

With birdies and eagles carrying such heavy rewards, aggressive play aimed at scoring rather than protecting par is the winning strategy. A-One Country Club, hosting a KLPGA Tour event for the first time this year, has widened its fairways and trimmed the rough to suit that style of play.

The format sharpens the focus on a season-long rivalry between Kim Min-sol and Seo Gyo-rim, who have been battling for every major title this year. Kim, a three-time winner this season, leads the money list with 1.53 billion won in earnings. A tied-second finish at last week's Hite Jinro Championship set a new KLPGA Tour single-season earnings record. She sits second in player-of-the-year points with 486 and leads the rookie-of-the-year standings with 2,383 points.

As defending champion, Kim won last year's edition with 51 points — carding 27 birdies across four rounds — tying the tournament record set by inaugural champion Lee Jeong-min in 2021. She also leads the tour this season with 10 eagles, making her a natural fit for the modified Stableford format.

"As defending champion, I want to carry on the good memories from last year's win," Kim said. "My goal is to adapt quickly to the new course and put myself in a position to compete for the title."

Standing in Kim's way is Seo Gyo-rim, who leads the tour with four wins this season and tops the player-of-the-year points standings with 563 — ahead of Kim. Her earnings of 1.41 billion won place her second on the money list, and she also leads the tour in scoring average.

Seo's attacking game is equally strong. She has recorded 280 birdies this season, tied with Kim Si-hyeon for the tour lead, and her birdie average of 3.6364 ranks second behind Moon Jeong-min (3.6533).

"Racking up birdies and eagles is the key in this tournament, so I plan to play much more aggressively than usual," Seo said.

Moon Jeong-min, who leads the tour in birdie average, will also be chasing her first win of the season at her sponsor's event. The field also includes 2024 champion Kim Min-byeol, 2023 champion Bang Shin-sil, Kim Min-seon 7, Choi Ye-rim, Jang Eun-su, Yoo Hyeon-jo, Lee Ye-won and Kim Su-ji.

The tournament also serves as the final qualifying event for the LPGA Tour's BMW Ladies Championship, which opens Oct. 22 at Pine Beach Golf Links in Haenam, South Jeolla Province. The top 15 players on the KLPGA Tour money list after this week's event will earn spots in the field.

The race for those spots is expected to be fierce, with little separating the players currently ranked 10th through 20th on the money list — from Kim Min-ju in 10th to Park Hye-jun in 15th and Kim Su-ji in 20th.