
LPGA star Ina Yoon, currently fifth at the Chevron Championship, discusses her three-year suspension for playing the wrong ball during a tournament in 2022. Yoon admitted to feeling nervous and confused about the situation at the time.
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HOUSTON â The night before the final round of a major championship isnât the ideal time to talk about a cheating scandal. But South Koreaâs Ina Yoon agreed to it anyway.
Currently solo fifth at the Chevron Championship, the LPGA's first major of the season, Yoon canât escape what a quick Google search reveals: In 2022, she was suspended for three years from the Korea Golf Association (KGA) and KLPGA for playing the wrong ball and not telling anyone.
Yoon, 22, using the help of an interpreter, recalled what transpired at the DB Group Korea Womenâs Open Golf Championship on June 16, 2022. During the first round, on which hole exactly she canât remember, Yoon missed a tee shot right into the rough. Other players helped her to find it. Yoon said she didnât realize that the ball wasn't hers until she got to the next tee.
âI wasnât sure what to do because this had never happened to me, so I was a bit frazzled,â said Yoon, who was 19 years old at the time. âMy caddie said to hit it. I shouldnât 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 shouldnât be too much of an issue, so I listened.â
More: 2026 Chevron Championship leaderboard, live updates, how to watch final round Sunday
Ina Yoon of South Korea watches her shot on the 18th hole during the third round of The Chevron Championship 2026 at Memorial Park Golf Course on April 25, 2026 in Houston, Texas.
A month later, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily, Yoonâs agency released a statement saying that she was first accused of playing a wrong ball at the Korea Women's Open on July 14. The next day, she self-reported. Yoon went on to win the event she was playing in that week, the KLPGAâs Evercollagen Queens Crown, for her first KLPGA title.
Ina Yoon was suspended for three years for playing the wrong ball and failing to report it during the DB Group Korea Womenâs Open Golf Championship.
The cheating scandal led to a three-year suspension from the Korea Golf Association and KLPGA, impacting her participation in professional golf events.
Ina Yoon is currently in solo fifth place at the Chevron Championship, the LPGA's first major of the season.
Yoon expressed that she was frazzled and nervous, stating she should have reported the incident immediately but listened to her caddie instead.

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While she stepped away from the tour as officials decided her fate, Yoon noted that her caddie at the time went on to do interviews with the Korean press, saying that he had given her two options: to hit the ball or not.
âHe said that I chose to hit the ball, and people believed that,â said Yoon. âPeople believed what the caddie said, and I was pretty upset that that became the truth at that time.
âHe told me to hit it,â she continued, âbut at the end of the day, I am the player and the player takes responsibility. I think I was just young and naĂŻve and I listened to it.â
The KLPGA Reward and Punishment Subcommittee ultimately banned Yoon for three years, releasing a statement that said, "We will continue to deal sternly with similar incidents.â
Long sentences arenât 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.
âPeople around me that knew the situation felt that it wasnât fair,â said Yoon of the length of the ban, âbut whatever the punishment was as a player, it was my fault at the end of the day, so I took that on.
âBut, as a golfer, three years is a lot of time. My future seemed a bit bleak at the time.â
Ina Yoon of South Korea plays a shot on the fifth hole during the third round of The Chevron Championship 2026 at Memorial Park Golf Course on April 25, 2026 in Houston, Texas.
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.
âI didnât do it with malicious intent, but people were pointing fingers at me,â she said. âBut then, on the other side, there were fans, so I didnât want to try to think too negatively.â
Needing someplace to compete, Yoon moved to Tampa, Florida, in 2023, and played on the menâs 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 Yoonâs suspension to 18 months. Yoon told Korean reporters at that time, âI will not repeat the same mistake again.â
Yoonâs 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.
âIâm not sure what the U.S. fans or LPGA may think,â said Yoon, âbut Iâve reflected a lot, and now I will do my best to become the best player I can be.â
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.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Chevron contender opens up about cheating ban that nearly caused her to quit