Mayakoba, Quintana Roo, April 18, 2025 – South Korean golfer Choi Hye-Jin, currently ranked 47th in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, has a love story with the El Camaleón Golf Club at Mayakoba, written during her junior years nine years ago.
It was back in 2016 when Choi, then just 16 years old, led the South Korean team to victory in the World Amateur Team Championship, winning the 27th edition of the Espirito Santo Trophy alongside teammates Min Ji Park and Hyun Kyung Park. It was the fourth title for South Korea in the event, which took place in Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Now 25 years old, Choi Hye-Jin returns to that very course to compete in the México Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, taking place from May 22 to 25, where she hopes to relive that magical moment and capture what would be her first LPGA Tour title.
Born in Gimhae on August 23, 1999, Choi Hye-Jin began representing South Korea internationally at the 2014 Asian Games, where she helped her team earn the silver medal and finished fifth individually. A year later, she won both the individual and team titles at the Women’s World Junior Championship.
In 2016, before claiming the Espirito Santo Trophy in Riviera Maya with her national team, Choi won the Canadian Women’s Amateur and finished second at the 2016 New Zealand Women’s Open, a tournament co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour and the Ladies European Tour.
During the 2017 season, the Korean golfer won the Australian Women’s Amateur and finished runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Open in New Jersey. At just 17 years old, she was on the verge of becoming the youngest champion in history and only the second amateur ever to win the U.S. Open, but she ultimately finished second behind fellow Korean Sung-Hyun Park.
In August 2017, ranked No. 1 in the Women’s Amateur World Ranking, Choi Hye-Jin turned professional, a stage in which she has recorded 13 victories, including 12 on the LPGA of Korea Tour.
She was runner-up at the 2018 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open as a non-member, and four years later earned her LPGA Tour card for 2022 through the Q-Series, finishing T8. In that rookie season, she achieved a third-place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open, her best result, which propelled her to 20th place in the rankings. She also finished second in the LPGA Rookie of the Year standings, behind winner Atthaya Thitikul.
Last year, she played 27 events, making 22 cuts and earning $1,198,637 USD. She recorded eight top-10 finishes, including three top-5s at the Honda LPGA Thailand (T3), Buick LPGA Shanghai (T5), and BMW Ladies Championship (T4), closing the season ranked 41st in the world.
In the current season, she has played five tournaments, making three cuts. Her best result so far came with a T11 finish at the HSBC Women’s World Championship on March 2 in Singapore.
Over the course of her LPGA Tour career, Choi Hye-Jin has amassed $4.1 million in official earnings and has achieved a total of 20 top-10 finishes.
