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The rookie class in 2019 was incredible, with
four of them winning tournaments in 2019 and five of them
finishing with more than 2000 rookie points, an all time record.
But Cho led the race all year and won the Rookie of the Year
title. She finished fifth on the tour
money list with over 750 million won earned. She won a second
event in late September, the Pak Se Ri Invitational, beating
top star Hye Jin Choi in a brilliant battle for the trophy.
She had 13 total top tens for the year, including the two
wins, a 2nd place and two thirds.
Cho also participated in the OrangeLife KLPGA-LPGA
team tournament at the end of the year. She lost to LPGA Rookie
of the year Jeongeun Lee6 in a battle of the rookie stars,
and won one of her two team matches. The KLPGA trounced the
LPGA in the overall competition. She also played a couple
of LPGA events, with her best finish a tie for 38th at the
BMW Championship in Korea.
Cho started 2020 even better than she had
started 2019. She played two LPGA events and one LET event
in Australia and contended in all three. First came the Vic
Open, where she had the lead going into the final round, but
collapsed on Sunday, allowing Hee Young Park to take the title.
Cho finished tied for 16th. The following week, she once again
was in the final group on Sunday, this time paired with Korean
golf legend Inbee Park. Once again she struggled, although
not as badly as at the Vic. Park won, while Cho finished tied
for 6th.
Cho played the LET's Australian Ladies Classic
Bonville the week after that. After two rounds she had the
lead, but did not have a great third round. Still, she was
once again in the final group on Sunday. She had a good final
day, but an amateur she was playing with had the round of
her life and ran away with the title. Cho finished second,
though, her best result of her three week Australian outing.
After that, the world was hit with the full
force of the Covid 19 pandemic. The KLPGA closed down for
several months, losing several events in the process, and
when it resumed, they did so without fans attending. Ayean
struggled a bit more with her game after that than she had
before. She made 146 million won in 2020, just 35th on the
KLPGA money list. She had only three top tens all season,
her best result a 6th at the Samdasoo Masters.
She worked hard in the off-season, and started
the 2021 season with a top five followed by a 12th place.
In the end, however, it was another so so season. She finished
36th on the money list with around 206 million won earned.
She had just three top tens, but she also managed a lot of
top twenties while missing just three cuts.
Ayean had a major return to form in 2022.
She won twice on the KLPGA that year -- at the Hoban Women's
Classic and the Kyojeon Honey Ladies Open -- and finished
15th on the money list with over 521 million won earned. Besides
her two wins, she had three additional top tens. Her play
earned her a chance to play on the LET in February, 2023,
at the Saudi Ladies International event in Saudi Arabia. It
was her first time playing off the KLPGA since the pandemic
started, but she missed the cut.
Ayean struggled with medical weakness in 2023.
Among the symptoms, her driving distance plunged to the worst
in the league, and her results suffered as well. She earned
just 140 million won for the year, 67th on the money list.
She had just one top ten, a t-8th at the Nexen Saint Nine
Masters. Hopefully she and her doctors will discover the source
of her condition and she will return to her former strength
for 2024.
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