South Korea-based business conglomerate Hanwha's logo was written on the cap of In-kyung Kim "when the female golfer raised her trophy for the cameras" at the Women's British Open, according to Park Jae-hyuk of the KOREA TIMES. When Haru Nomura won the Texas Shootout in May, the Korean-Japanese golfer was "also wearing her cap and orange jacket decorated with Hanwha's logos." Korea's eighth-largest conglomerate was "not the only Korean company that sponsored winners of the LPGA Tour tournaments this year." Korean firms have "already sponsored 10 Korean female golfers who have gained victories this season." KB Financial Group has supported Lee Mi-hyang, who won the Ladies Scottish Open, and Park In-bee, who won the HSBC Women's Champions. Industry officials said that golf teams "allow companies to make huge profits with relatively low investments." Founding a golf team is "known to cost a few million dollars in general." Given that the "whole world watches the competitions," however, the "effectiveness of advertising and its impact on sales appear to be much higher than the costs." L&P Cosmetics, which founded the Mediheal golf team, "aims to expand the medium-sized cosmetics company's presences in the overseas market by sponsoring Korean and Chinese golfers" (KOREA TIMES, 8/14).
