What You Can Learn from Major Champion, In Gee Chun

“When I was in a slump, some people said, In Gee, you should retire because your game is not good right now, but no matter what they said, I believed I could win again. I’m so proud now.”

These are words from the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Champion, In Gee Chun.

In Gee Chun now has three major championship titles under her belt: 2015 U.S. Women’s Open, 2016 The Amundi Evian Championship, and now her win at Congressional Country Club is added to this impressive list.

There is a lot that an amateur golfer can learn from In Gee Chun and her golf game. If you watch her highlight reel from the Championship, you will not be wowed by incredible shot shaping, or blown away by bombs off the tee; rather, you will see golf that is beautifully simple.

In Gee Chun’s swing is simple. Her swing can be described as not a lot of extra moving parts, sweet tempo and relatively short. It's compact and consistent, a great swing to model yours after if you are looking for one. 

In Gee Chun is not relatively long off the tee; however, she is consistent. It was amazing to see the juxtaposition between her game and that of her final round playing partner, Lexi Thompsom, who is known for her distance. You could practically place a blanket out on the driving range and In Gee Chun could hit five drives in a row on it. She just finds the fairway.

When it comes to approach shots, In Ge Chun’s are not jaw-dropping pin-seekers, she plays each approach shot incredibly smart and safe. Chun leaves herself safe on the green, but also in an area on the green in which the putt is makeable.

Amateurs can learn a lot from this approach: do not pin seek all of the time. Rather, find yourself safely on the putting area, but in a realm where you know the slopes of the green will not hurt your chances to roll in a birdie.

Keeping up with the simplistic theme, her short game is ideal when traveling from different course conditions and environments. In Gee Chun’s short-game approach is very straightforward, nothing fancy. Making a clutch par on the 15th hole during her final round with a short, tricky flop shot out of the rough looked effortless. She kept her hands soft, and the ball flew high. Simple short game approaches like this will help anyone’s golf game.

In Gee Chun’s putting stroke tempo matches perfectly with her full swing, which all golfers should try to employ for a consistent game. The overall technique of her putting stoke is, again, simple. Making a lot of clutch putts throughout the championship was thanks to her keeping the same tempo in her putting stroke, no matter the distance.

In Gee Chun is a three-time major champion for a reason, and yet her golf game is not flashy. This is a great lesson to everyone at home that you can win without having the drive for show or pin-seeking attitude. Keeping it simple will work wonders, just try it out.