Hye-Jin Choi was 17 years old when she finished solo second at the 2017 U.S. Women's Open. Choi stood on the 16th tee tied with eventual winner Sung Hyun Park and watched her dream run all but vanish when she rinsed a tee shot with a 7-iron from 142 yards at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Nearly a decade later, 27-year-old Choi is still waiting on that first LPGA win. Though she has won more than $7 million on the LPGA and 12 titles on the KLPGA (two as an amateur).
On Sunday in her native South Korea, Choi watched another chance slide by on the 18th as she failed to make birdie to force a playoff against Yuri Yoshida. Choi, who was trying to win in her 125th career start, finished runner-up the week before, too, at the Buick
LPGA Shanghai.
"Last week, maintained lead until last round, very disappointing," said Choi going into the BMW. "But there will be many opportunities in the future, so I am actually hopeful. If I remain patient my time will come. Last time at this event I played well so my journey towards a win continues."
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Choi's nine runner-up finishes without a victory is the most by any player on tour since 1981. The next closest player is Stephanie Farwig, who had six runner-ups between 1983 and 1997 but never won.
Among current players, Elias notes that Pornanong Phatlum's five second-place finishes is the closest to Choi, while both Alison Lee and Esther Henseleit have four seconds.
Canada's Lorie Kane had nine runner-up finishes before nabbing her first victory at the 2000 Michelob Classic. Kane lost four playoffs prior to that victory. Choi's only playoff loss came at last year's Maybank Championship, eventually won by Miyu Yamashita.
Choi returns to Malaysia this week hoping to flip the script.
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the LPGA and all things women's golf. Follow her on X/Twitter (@GolfweekNichols).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: See where this LPGA player's nine 2nd-place finishes without a win ranks
