“I want to confirm the results of this year’s experiment, this time.”
‘Veteran’ Jang Ha-na (31), who has won 15 career victories on the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour, had the most difficult year after her professional debut.
Jang Ha-na, who returned to Korea on the LPGA Tour in 2018, has been on a winning streak, winning every year until last year. In 2019, he also broke the 1 billion won prize money for the first time on the tour.
But this year, it crashed to such an extent that there was no ‘escape’ in sight. Only 9 competitions passed the cut, and the total prize money for the season barely exceeded 100 million won. The prize money ranking is 80th. It is a report card that would have made it impossible to secure the right to participate in the regular tour if the seed had not been secured by winning.
Jang Ha-na, who we met on the 15th at the Twin Doves Golf Club (par 72) in Binh Duong Province, outside Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, said, “This year was a year where we made a lot of changes, such as swing. After I paid it, people around me talked about retirement a lot,” he said, looking back on the difficult year.
Jang Ha-na will participate in the second tournament of the KLPGA Tour 2023 season, ‘PLK Pacific Rings Korea Championship with SBS GOLF’, which will be held for three days from the 16th.
Jang Ha-na is famous for her powerful swing and aggressive game management. Even in the rough, the skill of putting the ball on the green was to the point that no player on the KLPGA tour could follow.
However, as he entered his 30s, his wrist and elbow injuries, which had become chronic diseases, worsened, and even his ankle was not in good shape, so he conceived a new strategy as he started the 2022 season. ‘Playing golf happily for a long time’ was Jang Ha-na’s new goal.
Jang Ha-na said, “As I entered my 30s, minor injuries came to me often. I had to learn how to play without injury. So I changed my swing. I hit a fade with an upright swing, but it was too much for my body, so I changed to a flat swing, I also changed to a draw,” he said. “But as the shot was not perfectly executed, I lost faith in myself. I tried not to think of it as a slump, but it was not as easy as I thought.
But she said she had no regrets about her new challenge. On this day, Ha Na Jang’s appearance was bright enough to make one question, ‘Is this a player who has worked hard for a year?’
Jang Ha-na said, “It’s natural to make trial and error in creating a new swing. That’s why I said I don’t regret it. The reason I skipped the Singapore tournament last week is because my swing isn’t yet complete.” I have good memories, so I want to feel that feeling again, and I want to test my swing on the competition course, not on the practice mat.” 안전놀이터
Our goal for this tournament is 20th place. Jang Ha-na, who smiled and said that she had transformed into a ‘livelihood golfer’, said, “Green play is an important course. I plan to run the game smartly by mobilizing both IQ and EQ. Since this is the last tournament of the year, I will pour everything in.”
Jang Ha-na will take a break in Korea after the tournament and leave for Laos on January 19 next year for field training. He said that until training he wanted to be comfortable with the golf club.
Hana Jang smiled broadly, saying, “I plan to sleep in for now. And I want to enjoy cultural life, such as watching musicals, whenever I have free time.”