South Korea’s Park Sung-hyun shot a course-record 10-under 62 yesterday to take a four-stroke lead at the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship.
The 22-year-old Park birdied three of the final four holes after making six birdies in a seven-hole stretch in the middle of the round on Sky 72’s Ocean Course.
Making her first LPGA Tour start, Park played alongside Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson, and often drove past the long-hitting US stars.
Photo: AFP
“I thought it was not an easy course, but my tee shots, my iron shots, my putting, everything just went really well,” Park said through a translator. “I have to say that with Lexi and Michelle, there were some holes where they shot farther than I did, so we were kind of going back and forth there... Michelle and Lexi are taller and bigger than I am, and they are much more powerful than I am, but I notice that maybe my swing speed is a bit faster than them.”
“I think today, I was especially lucky, but looking ahead to the next three days, I know that double or triple-bogeys are a possibility,” Park said “So, it’s really anybody’s game at this point. I’m going to try to not focus on winning too much and really try to do my best.”
Ranked 54th in the world, Park won the South Korean Tour’s Pak Se-ri Invitational two weeks ago for her third victory of the season. She won the Korea Women’s Open in June.
“It was awesome to watch, that’s for sure,” Thompson said. “She shot 10-under and I swear it seemed like she birdied every hole. It was amazing to watch. I’ve never seen her play before and she’s a great player. Amazing putter and great ball-striker, and she hits it long.”
Thompson had a 68, while Wie shot a 71.
US Solheim Cup hero Gerina Piller and England’s Charley Hull were tied for second on six-under 66.
Piller had six birdies in a bogey-free round that started on No. 10.
“I just made some putts,” Piller said. “The greens are rolling pretty quick and they are pretty pure. I missed the green on the first hole and I had about a 10-footer [for par], so I think that just kind of kick-started the whole day.”
Hull birdied five of the first seven holes in a bogey-free round.
“Just patience at the moment,” Hull said.
China’s Feng Shanshan was five strokes back at 67 along with South Koreans Chella Choi, Kim Hyo-joo, Ji Eun-hee and Ji Han-sol. Kim and Choi won their first LPGA Tour titles this season. Kim took the Founders Cup in Phoenix, while Choi claimed the Marathon Classic in Ohio.
“This tournament is my favorite tournament the whole year, because my hometown and my whole family came out here,” Choi said. “I’m so excited and I’m really proud of my country.”
World No. 1 Inbee Park had a 69. The South Korean star won two of the five majors this year and is tied with world No. 2 Lydia Ko for the LPGA Tour victory lead with four.
Ko also shot a 69. She tied for second last week at the LPGA Malaysia after winning her previous two starts in Canada and France, where the 18-year-old became the youngest major champion.
Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng was a shot further back on two-under 70, while fellow Taiwanese Min Lee carded an even-par 72. Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung slipped to a two-over 74, while Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling was another shot further back. Taiwanese amateur Hou Yu-sang shot a six-over 78.
Jessica Korda of the US, the winner in Malaysia, opened with a 71 along with Juli Inskter, the oldest player in the field at 55.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS