From a three-win season to the edge of the cutoff
Ma Da-som (마다솜) won three KLPGA Tour titles in 2024, sharing the season lead for victories. One of them came at the S-OIL Championship on Jeju Island. Two seasons later, the four-time KLPGA winner returns to that event facing a very different test: protecting her route into the regular tour for 2027.
According to a 28 October report by Seoul Economic Daily, Ma enters the week 61st on the 2026 KLPGA money list, with approximately ₩154.25 million in official season earnings. Kim Ji-yoon is 60th on approximately ₩165.73 million, leaving a gap of about ₩11.48 million. These are pre-tournament positions, not final season rankings; prize money earned this week will change the standings.
Why the Jeju event matters so much
The KLPGA’s official schedule lists the 20th S-OIL Championship for 29 October–1 November 2026 at Elysian Jeju, using the Lake (OUT) and Pine (IN) nines. The field consists of 96 players and the total purse is ₩1 billion. Go Ji-won is the defending champion.
Korean reporting says the top 60 on the money list at the relevant cutoff are in line to retain regular-tour entry without going back through qualifying. Players outside that group who lack another exemption face a route through the qualifying tournament. Falling below 60th does not mean a player has retired, or that she is automatically excluded from every future event: exemption categories and qualifying results also matter.
For Ma, the contrast with her breakthrough 2024 season is striking. Seoul Economic Daily reports that she has recorded just one top-10 finish in 26 starts in 2026. Her three wins in 2024, including the S-OIL title, underline what she is capable of on a strong week; they do not provide permanent eligibility.
The money-list mathematics
A finish well short of first place could still be highly significant. Seoul Economic Daily cites ₩40 million for fifth place and ₩30 million for seventh at this event. Either is larger than Ma’s reported pre-event gap to 60th, though her eventual position also depends on what the players immediately above and below her earn.
Other established names are under pressure. Kim Woo-jung, who has not previously finished a season outside the top 60 since joining the regular tour, is listed 65th; Park Gyeol, whose long run of consecutive seasons at this level has been a hallmark of her career, is 66th.
That makes the S-OIL Championship two competitions at once: the conventional title race at the top of the leaderboard, and a season-defining battle around the money-list cutoff.
What happens next: play begins on 29 October. Until the tournament is completed and the relevant money list updated, it would be inaccurate to declare Ma’s 2027 card either secured or lost. Official scores and eligibility should be checked against the KLPGA’s published records.
Sources: Seoul Economic Daily, 28 October; KLPGA official event schedule; Korea Economic Daily, 26 October.
