When Hye-Jin Choi joined the field at the Seaview Hotel & Golf Club, she would have hoped to be competing for the event, which has a $2 million purse. She was even one of the favorites to win the tournament. However, her journey in the ShopRite LPGA Classic has ended much earlier than she had anticipated.
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The LPGA Tour confirmed that Choi has officially withdrawn from the event after one round of action. And the reason they have given for her exit is a mysterious illness.
It’s not like Choi was performing badly this time around. She had finished the first round on Thursday with a 4-under 67 and was in the top-10 of the leaderboard on Thursday evening. Notably, Choi has enjoyed a decent season so far. She kicked things off with a T8 in the Honda LPGA Thailand, and that was followed by a Blue Bay LPGA T5. In the beginning of May 2026, the South Korean managed a T3 in the Mizuho Americas Open.
Interestingly, this wasn’t Choi’s first withdrawal of the season. Back in April 2026, she had also exited the JM Eagle LA Championship after playing just 18 holes. Even then, she had withdrawn from the tournament at the El Caballero Country Club due to a mysterious illness.
That said, Choi is not the only one who shocked the LPGA Tour on Saturday. They confirmed that 30-year-old Yu Liu also withdrew from the tournament due to the same reason—illness. She shot +1 on the first day. Coming off a third-place finish in the 2026 Riviera Maya Open a few weeks ago, the Chinese pro would have hoped to get a better result here.
Even Alena Sharp has withdrawn before her second round due to injury. She shot 82 in the first round.
The LPGA Tour field for the event is already not that strong, with many stars like Lydia Ko, Jeeno Thitikul, and Nelly Korda missing in action this week. Jenny Shin had also quit during the first round. She, too, was suffering from an illness yesterday.
The headliner of the tournament is Charley Hull, and she is not showing any signs of poor health. However, she is struggling to compete in the tournament. After 36 holes, the Englishwoman has managed 7-over par. She did not manage to make the cut.
The 2026 ShopRite LPGA Classic had raging winds
Though several golfers withdrew due to health reasons, Soo Bin Joo thrived.
Players expected ideal weather conditions, with sunshine and dry skies throughout the day. As per the LPGA, temperatures were forecast to climb into the upper 70s by the afternoon, while winds will range from 6 to 13 mph and occasionally gust as high as 25 mph.
As the Atlantic Ocean winds were raging, Bin Joo was at home.
“I was barely making pars on the golf course today and yesterday was like going for birdies on every single hole,” Joo mentioned later. “So different game plan and a different mindset. I think that put me in a good position today.”
However, for Israeli player Laetitia Beck, it was too windy.
“Today was extremely windy, so definitely was much harder to judge club selections, and putts were also much harder,” she said. “That’s where I pretty much struggled today. I didn’t make putts.”
Scoring conditions shifted noticeably as the day wore on. While 11 players managed rounds in the 60s, most of them taking advantage of calmer morning conditions before the wind picked up, eight others struggled to the point of failing to break 80.
