Stars from the top U.S. and domestic women's golf tours will converge for an LPGA Tour event in South Korea this week, with a hometown favorite looking to defend her title. The LPGA Tour will bring its annual Asian swing to Haenam, some 330 kilometers south of Seoul in Jeonnam-Gwangju, for the BMW Ladies Championship at Pine Beach Golf Links. The 72-hole stroke-play tournament goes from Thursday to Sunday, with a total purse of $2.35 million. This will be the second straight edition of the tournament played in Haenam. Kim Sei-young, who is from the nearby town of Yeongam, won last year's tournament in front of dozens of friends and relatives to end a five-year LPGA title drought. At No. 9 with 13 career LPGA wins, Kim has had a strong 2026 season with seven top-10 finishes in 17 starts -- a run that will surely improve with a second straight BMW title on home soil this week. No player has won consecutive BMW tournaments since its launch in 2019. Kim is the third-highest ranked South Korean player in the field. World No. 3 Ryu Hae-ran leads all South Korean players in the rankings and will