World No. 1 Yani Tseng and No. 3 Choi Na-yeon said Monday they‘re looking forward to engaging in another duel this week for the title at the only LPGA Tour stop in South Korea.

Tseng, the defending champion of the US$1.8 million LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship, and Choi, the runner-up last year, sat side by side at the pre-tournament press conference at the Ocean Course of the Sky72 Golf Club here in Incheon, just west of Seoul.

With the start of the three-round event set for Friday, Tseng spoke of her love for the Ocean Course. It is hosting the tournament for the fifth year, after two different courses hosted the event from 2002 to 2007.

“I always love being back here,” said the Taiwanese, who has spent 88 weeks at the top of the women’s golf rankings. “I always play well here. I am looking forward to this week.”

Choi won this tournament in 2009 and 2010 but came up a stroke shy of a three-peat last year, as Tseng fired a 14-under, the best winning score on the Ocean Course.

Choi was also in second in the latest LPGA Tour event, the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. She blew a two-shot final round lead, allowing compatriot Park In-bee to snatch the title, but Choi said she has already put the disappointment behind her.

“I still had a good tournament, and my confidence is running high,” she said. “I love this course, and I can‘t wait to play here. In the final round in Malaysia, I just didn’t play my game. But there‘s always next time.”

Tseng started the 2012 season by winning three of the first five tournaments. The 23-year-old, however, hasn’t found the winner‘s circle since March. She admitted Monday that her recent struggles have been frustrating, but they’ve also been a valuable learning experience.

“I just want to enjoy myself and enjoy golf, because this is a game I‘ve loved since I was young,” she said. “I feel so much better and happier on the golf course now. I try to enjoy life more instead of worrying about being No. 1 and winning tournaments. It’s just part of your life. You go down, and you go up again. I will be stronger and tougher when I go up again.”

The championship last year came down to Tseng‘s power and imaginative shot-making on the back nine. Standing on the par-5 13th, Tseng chose to drive to the 14th fairway on the right to give herself a much shorter second shot to the green. She easily found the green in two and picked up a birdie.

Then on the par-4 15th, the tee box was moved up front by 67 yards and the hole played at just 265 yards. Tseng, one of the LPGA’s longest hitters, found the green with her tee shot and two-putted for a birdie.

Choi ended up in a bunker with her tee shot and managed only a par, dropping two shots behind Tseng.

On Monday, Choi recalled that the 15th hole may have decided the championship. For this year, though, she predicted “all 18 holes will be important.”

“This is a challenging course,” Choi said. “Players put up great scores last year, but we had benign conditions. You really have to stay focused on the back nine, and I think ultimately, the final four holes will prove important.”

The brash Tseng begged to differ, saying the Ocean Course will be there for the taking.

“You can make a lot of birdies on this golf course,” she said. “You just need to be patient. There are a couple of holes where greens are a little firm. You just need to be careful.”

When asked if she had more shot-making strategies this year, Tseng said her goal was to “try to hit the fairways.”

Since the tournament began under a different corporate sponsorship in 2002, South Koreans have won the event seven times. The field this year also features world No. 2 Stacy Lewis and the 2007 champion Suzann Pettersen, currently ranked ninth in the world. 

(Yonhap News)