Yoon was just getting started, however, and in June and July she played better and better. She notched a tie for 6th at the Lotte Open at the start of June, and followed that with a third at the BC Card a few weeks later. But it was at the McCol Mona Park Open a week after that where she really burst into the limelight. In the final round, Jin Hee Im had taken a large lead and no one seemed to be able to challenge her. Ina started a run to do that. She made a spectacular long birdie on 17 to move to within two. The final hole was a long par 5 that no one, not even Ina, had been able to reach all week. She went for it. She pulverized her drive, then hit her second 240 meters and up 18 meters, and amazingly got on to the green to the stunned shouts of the commentators and fans. She missed the 30 foot eagle try by inches and lost, but her incredible final hole effort went viral in Korea, and she quickly tripled her Instagram following. A star was born.

A couple of weeks later, Ina won her first tournament, the Evercollagen Queens Crown, by sinking a fifteen foot birdie putt on the final hole. She was now second on the Rookie of the Year standings, just a few points behind Yewon, and had moved into the top 100 in the world rankings. It looked like the battle between these two great young stars was about to get really good.

But that's when everything fell apart for Ina. She had cheated by playing the wrong ball at the Korea Women's Open a month earlier (she still missed the cut by a lot), and decided to fess up when her caddie, whom she was about to let go, threatened to tell the press. As far as we know, this is the only illegal play she has ever made; she has been completely honest about it and cooperated with the KLPGA. And she voluntarily removed herself from competition while she waited two months for the tour to make a decision on her punishment. Their verdict was to ban her from the KLPGA for three years, an incredibly brutal sentence for the crime.

Since she withdrew from the tour, she has only twice publicly commented about her situation: once when she went to the KLPGA to get her punishment, and once in December when she held a fan meeting with the many fans who still supported her. In just half a season, she was able to make 385 million won, 23rd on the money list. She had the win, the second, one third, and five top tens. But as the months ticked by, there was no word on her plans. She was still training, but would she play somewhere other than Korea?

Her career took some interesting turns in 2023. Banned from the KLPGA, she apparently had a few offers to play elsewhere but turned them down. But then, in March, she suddenly showed up in America. She played on a tour called the Minor League Golf Tour. A MEN'S tour. She was in fact the only woman on that tour, playing from shorter tees. In about a dozen events on that tour, based in Florida, she didn't win, but did collect mostly top five finishes. She made about $13,000, which she donated entirely to girls' golf in the States. She even received a special plaque for her charity.

Fortunately, her sponsor Hite Beer agreed to honor her sponsor deal, which she had until the end of 2024. But nary a peep came from her. She didn't even do interviews when she played. Then in August, she returned to Korea and petitioned the KGA to reduce her punishment. She offered over 5,000 fan signatures on a petition. In September, the KGA halved her penalty, meaning she would be able to play the Korea Women's Open in 2024. It was the first good news she had had in a year.

The KLPGA, however, did nothing. Ina next petitioned them, but the months passed without a word from them. Finally in mid-December, they announced that they would make a formal decision at the next LKPGA board meeting. But they were apparently deadlocked and so put off the decision another month. On January 8, they finally did the same thing the KGA had done: halved her penlaty. This meant that she would be officially allowed back on the KLPGA after March 19.

The next day, Ina qualified to play on the WPGA, a women's golf tour located in Australia. She played an event there a few weeks later, the Vic Open, where she finished tied for 11th. She was at the event with Jiyai Shin, who had been training with her and who had taken the young player under her wing. At this point there has been no other activity from Ina, but according to eyewitnesses at the Vic, she was in good spirits and had a fair number of fans following her. Here's hoping she will be back in time for the first KLPGA event in Korea in April!