Updated April 26, 2026, 12:54 p.m. ET
- In 2022, South Korean golfer Ina Yoon was suspended for taking part in the flawed ball throughout a match.
- Yoon’s preliminary three-year ban from the KLPGA was later lowered to 18 months after a fan petition.
- After her suspension, Yoon returned to the KLPGA in 2024, topping the cash checklist and main the tour in scoring.
- Yoon is now a rookie on the LPGA tour and was in fifth place on the Chevron Championship when interviewed.
HOUSTON – The evening earlier than the ultimate spherical of a serious championship isn’t the best time to discuss about a cheating scandal. But South Korea’s Ina Yoon agreed to it anyway.
Currently solo fifth on the Chevron Championship, the LPGA’s first main of the season, Yoon can’t escape what a fast Google search reveals: In 2022, she was suspended for 3 years from the Korea Golf Association and KLPGA for taking part in the flawed ball and never telling anybody.
Yoon, 22, utilizing the assistance of an interpreter, recalled what transpired on the DB Group Korea Women’s Open Golf Championship on June 16, 2022. During the primary spherical, on which gap precisely she will’t keep in mind, Yoon missed a tee shot proper into the tough. Other gamers helped her to discover it. Yoon mentioned she didn’t understand that the ball wasn’t hers till she acquired to the subsequent tee.
“I wasn’t sure what to do because this had never happened to me, so I was a bit frazzled,” mentioned Yoon, who was 19 on the time. “My caddie said to hit it. I shouldn’t have listened, but I did. I should have reported it right away, but I was really nervous and scared about that. I missed the cut, and I thought it would be OK. The people around me told me that it shouldn’t be too much of an issue, so I listened.”
A month later, in accordance to the Korea JoongAng Daily, Yoon’s company launched an announcement saying that she was first accused of taking part in a flawed ball on the Korea Women’s Open on July 14. The subsequent day, she self-reported. Yoon went on to win the occasion she was taking part in in that week, the KLPGA’s Evercollagen Queens Crown, for her first KLPGA title.
While she stepped away from the tour as officers determined her destiny, Yoon famous that her caddie on the time went on to do interviews with the Korean press, saying that he had given her two choices: to hit the ball or not.
“He said that I chose to hit the ball, and people believed that,” mentioned Yoon. “People believed what the caddie said, and I was pretty upset that that became the truth at that time.
“He told me to hit it,” she continued, “but at the end of the day, I am the player and the player takes responsibility. I think I was just young and naive and I listened to it.”
The KLPGA Reward and Punishment Subcommittee in the end banned Yoon for 3 years, releasing an announcement that mentioned, “We will continue to deal sternly with similar incidents.”
Long sentences aren’t unusual in South Korea. In 2019, the KPGA doled out a three-year ban to Bio Kim after he made an obscene gesture to fans after a cellphone camera went off during his downswing. Kim was the tour’s leading money winner at the time.
“People around me that knew the situation felt that it wasn’t fair,” said Yoon of the length of the ban, “but whatever the punishment was as a player, it was my fault at the end of the day, so I took that on.
“But, as a golfer, three years is a lot of time. My future seemed a bit bleak at the time.”
Yoon grew emotional on Saturday after play had finished at Memorial Park, as she talked about the toll that it took, causing her to nearly give up the game she’d been playing more than half her life. She felt lost.
“I didn’t do it with malicious intent, but people were pointing fingers at me,” she said. “But then, on the other side, there were fans, so I didn’t want to try to think too negatively.”
Needing someplace to compete, Yoon moved to Tampa, Florida, in 2023, and played on the men’s Minor League Golf Tour. After playing in 13 events on that tour with three runner-up finishes, she donated $10,000 to the Sandhill Crane Junior Golf Program. Her mini tour scoring average: 67.92.
Eventually, with the help of a fan club petition that included 5,000 signatures, both the KGA and KLPGA reduced Yoon’s suspension to 18 months. Yoon told Korean reporters at that time, “I will not repeat the same mistake again.”
Yoon’s triumphant return to the KLPGA in 2024 included 14 top-10 finishes in 25 starts, including a win at the Jeju Samdasoo Masters. She topped the money list and led the tour in scoring at 70.0526.
The next month, she went to the final stage of LPGA Q-School and finished solo eighth, joining the tour as a rookie in 2025. Currently No. 53 in the Rolex Rankings, Yoon has three top-20 finishes in her last three starts on the LPGA, including a solo fourth last week in L.A.
“I’m not sure what the U.S. fans or LPGA may think,” said Yoon, “but I’ve reflected a lot, and now I will do my best to become the best player I can be.”
And with that, she went off to prepare for her biggest round yet.
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek and a consistent contributor to Golf Channel.
