‘Rookie of the Year Challenge’ Choi Hye-jin 3 under par 2nd place… Expected to escape 7 consecutive ‘major draw’
[게티이미지/AFP=연합뉴스]
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Soon-Hyun Lim = In-Jeon Jeon (28) took the lead on the first day of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (total prize money of $9 million), a major event on the LPGA Tour.
In the first round of the tournament held at the Congressional Country Club (par 72, 6,894 yards) in Bethesda, Maryland, USA on the 24th (Korean time), Jeon In-ji tied nine birdies and one bogey to hit an 8-under 64.
Hye-jin Choi (23), tied for second place, and In-ji Jeon, 5 strokes ahead of Pon Anong Petram (Thailand), revealed the possibility of winning a major for the third time in her career.
Jeon, who officially entered the LPGA Tour in 2016 after winning the U.S. Women’s Open, a major event in 2015, won another major event, the Evian Championship that year, and won two majors.
It was Jeon Inji, who lifted the 3rd championship cup in his career at the KEB Hana Bank Champion in 2018, but his luck did not follow after that.
In March, tied for second place at the HSBC World Championship was Jeon In-ji’s best performance since 2018.
In-ji Jeon, who started the game on the 10th hole, cut five strokes only in the first half, catching four birdies in a row from the 15th hole to the 18th hole.
In the second half, he faltered by recording a bogey on the 1st hole (par 4), but immediately made up for it with a birdie on the 2nd hole and recorded three consecutive birdies to solidify the lead.
In the end, Jeon In-ji, who added one more birdie on the 7th hole (par 3), finished the first round at 8-under.
After the game, Jeon In-ji said, “Golf is a very important sport. I have overcome the burden of winning and focused on the process in this tournament.” “For the remaining three days, I focused on the game and recorded as many birdies as possible while recording as many birdies as possible. I want to do it,” he said.
[게티이미지/AFP=연합뉴스]
Choi Hye-jin, who is running second in points for the Rookie of the Year this season, hit 3-under 69 with three birdies, and tied for second place with Petram.
Hyejin Choi, who started on the LPGA Tour this year, has competed in 12 tournaments and has been showing off her stable performance without missing a cut.
After entering the top 10 in six competitions, Ataya Titikun (Thailand, 700 points) is recording the second place in the Rookie of the Year points (657 points).
After the game, Hyejin Choi said, “I like to play aggressively, but this tournament seems to be a course that cannot be played easily. said
Petram, who tied for second place with Hyejin Choi, recorded a hole-in-one on the 2nd hole (par 3) and received cheers from the galleries.
Kim Se-young (29), who won her first major at the 2020 tournament, tied for sixth place with Kim In-kyung (34) and Kim A-rim (27) with a 1-under 71 stroke.
Park In-bee (34), who lifted the championship cup for three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015, and Ko Jin-young (27), the world No.
As a large number of Korean players entered the top ranks, expectations for the ‘major championship’ of Korean players, which had been cut off after winning the US Women’s Open in December 2020, were raised.
Korea has never won a championship in seven majors since Kim A-rim won the U.S. Women’s Open in 2020.
It is the first time in 11 years that a Korean player has not won seven consecutive LPGA Tour majors, from the British Open in 2009 to the LPGA Championship in 2011.
hyun@yna.co.kr
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2022/06/24 10:17 Send
