Kim Mi-hyun, a South Korean golfer with eight LPGA Tour wins, will retire from the sport after an LPGA stop on her home soil next month, officials said Thursday.

Organizers of the LPGA KEB•HanaBank Championship, set for Oct. 19 to 21 in South Korea, said Kim had informed them of her plan to call it quits after the 54-hole tournament.

"She will be a special invitee for our tournament," an organizing official said.

The tournament will be held at Sky72 Golf Club near Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. It's the only annual LPGA event in South Korea.

Kim, 35, was the 1999 LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year, and was part of the first wave of South Korean stars on the LPGA Tour in the late 1990s and early 2000s, along with Hall of Famer Pak Se-ri and former major champion Grace Park, or Park Ji-eun.

Pak, 35, won a South Korean tour event last weekend, while Park, 33, announced her retirement last month.

Kim has captured eight titles from 1999 to 2007, but her best performance at a major championship was a runner-up finish at the 2001 Women's British Open.

Dubbed "Peanut" for her diminutive stature, the 155-centimeter player was known for unusually long backswing and accurate fairway wood shots.

She is married to former Olympic judo gold medalist Lee Won-hee. She has been slowed by ankle and knee injuries and hasn't appeared in any event this year.

Last year, Kim played in 19 LPGA events and posted a top-10 finish at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in September. She has made US$8.62 million in prize money in her career. (Yonhap News)