HAINAN, South Korea — Two 10-year LPGA Tour veterans, 32-year-old Sei-young Kim and 34-year-old American Lindy Duncan, had been among the many leaders after the primary spherical of the BMW Girls Championship on Thursday.
Kim had eight birdies and one eagle at Pine Seashore Golf Hyperlinks to high the leaderboard with a 10-under 62. Duncan birdied three of the final 5 holes to shut in on a two-stroke lead.
Between them was Kim Hyo-joo, who hit 63 hits.
Sei-young Kim joined the LPGA Tour in 2015, one yr after Duncan. The large distinction is that Kim has 12 LPGA wins, whereas Duncan has none.
Kim Byeong-hyun made a birdie on the par-3 fifteenth gap to achieve 9 underneath par and take the lead.
“That is near my hometown, so I’ve plenty of household, cousins, and followers,” Kim mentioned. “So I had an awesome begin and had plenty of assist all the best way from the primary gap to the 18th gap.”
Rio Takeda shot a 65 and tied for fourth within the group.
Canada’s Brooke Henderson shot a 67, and American Lucy Lee, who gained the automobile with a hole-in-one on the par-3 thirteenth gap, shot a 68.
“It was a very good quantity into the wind. It hit the pin completely,” Lee mentioned of the ace. “I assumed I is perhaps a bit brief, however I went in. I used to be a bit scared. I assumed this was the hole-in-one gap. I have been complaining to my caddy all week about not having the ability to gap out this yr.”
Defending champion Hannah Inexperienced began with back-to-back birdies, however stalled all through the spherical and completed with a 68, as did fellow Australian Minjee Lee.
Inexperienced’s victory final yr was her third of the 2024 season, making her the primary Australian since Curry Webb to attain three wins in a season on the LPGA Tour.
Inexperienced’s current tour outcomes embody a tie for twenty eighth and failing to qualify in Canada in August and a tie for 66th in Arkansas in September.
“My golf hasn’t fairly been the place I would like it to be,” Inexperienced mentioned earlier than the primary spherical. “The previous few months have most likely been the toughest of my profession.” “I’ve been again in Australia for the final three weeks so it’s allowed me to reset.”
That is the primary consecutive event to be held in South Korea, with an Worldwide Crown Workforce occasion scheduled for subsequent week.
Gino Titicle turned the primary a number of winner on the LPGA Tour this season with a five-hole playoff victory over Minami Katsu, who shot a 68 in South Korea on Thursday, in Shanghai final week. Titikul won’t play this week however can be a part of Thailand’s squad for subsequent week’s Worldwide Crown.
After the Worldwide Crown, two extra LPGA occasions are scheduled in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Japan within the five-event Asian Swing.
