[Courtesy of Sportizen]
For Jang Ha-na, spending time with her aging parents is more precious than glittering championship trophies abroad. And that's why she suddenly dumped her LPGA membership and returned home.
Her 66-year-old mother, Kim Yeon-sook, shed tears during a news conference in Seoul as Jang impressed journalists with frank and emotional remarks that she realized belatedly that a happy moment with her family was more important than becoming the world's best golfer.
"I made up my mind because I thought that spending time with my family is more precious than becoming the world's best," the four-time LPGA Tour winner told reporters. "I want to lead a happy life with loved ones including my parents."
Jang will join the Korea LPGA Tour (KLPGA) on June 2. Her LPGA career has been successful, but the 25-year-old has told her friends that she felt tired and run down because of a tight schedule in the United States.
[Courtesy of Sportizen]
She said she had been always concerned about her mother because she was left alone in South Korea without her 63-year-old husband, Jang Chang-ho, taking care of his daughter during their three-year stay in the United States.
"I felt hollow even after my victories," Jang said, adding she decided to give up her LPGA membership after asking herself "hundreds and thousands of questions". "I made a decision after seeing the lonely life of my mother," she said.
"Once I left the golf course and found myself alone, I just felt so empty," she said. "I started to wonder why I was feeling that way, because I was playing golf to be happy after all."
Jang said she feels as if she has "turned a corner" in her life and career, but she said she would do her best on home soil while enjoying her life together with her mother.
Jang was the top money winner in South Korea here in 2013. Since she moved to the US tour in 2015, she has won four championships. This year, she won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open in February and stood 10th in the world rankings.
With her energetic moves, Jang has earned her the nickname "HaNa-Gizer", but she took a one-month rest in April last year, complaining about insomnia and anemia caused by an extreme stress. LPGA said on its website: "The 2015 rookie brought smiles to fan faces with her exciting celebrations inspired by everyone from Samurai warriors to Beyonce."
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
