Kim Se-young "Advancing to First Win from 2nd Place"..."Weather is a Variable~"

Gainbridge LPGA Day 1: Korda Leads at 6 Under, Choi Woon-jung Tied 8th at 2 Under, Park In-bee Tied 55th at 2 Over

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "The weather is a variable."

World No. 6 Kim Se-young (27, Mirae Asset, photo) finished the first round of the Gainbridge LPGA (total prize money $2 million) held on the 24th (Korean time) at Boca Rio Golf Club (par 72, 6,701 yards) in Boca Raton, Florida, USA, tied for 2nd place, two strokes behind (4-under 68). She said, "Yesterday was cold, and today it was very windy," adding, "Tomorrow I will play in the morning group, so the day will feel longer," as she focused her mind.

This tournament is the second event of the 2020 season. Kim Se-young won the CME Group Tour Championship last November, securing her third victory of the season and hitting the '1.5 million dollar (1.75 billion won) jackpot.' Her biggest goal this year is the 'Tokyo Olympic gold medal.' That is why she started the season early from the Diamond Resort Tournament, which ended on the 20th. It is encouraging that she finished warming up tied for 7th place. On this day, she recorded six birdies and two bogeys.

She started off well with a birdie on the first hole, the 10th hole (par 5), and added a second birdie on the 14th hole (par 4). Although she made consecutive bogeys on the 15th hole (par 4) and the first hole of the back nine (par 5), her concentration was remarkable as she immediately recovered her score with back-to-back birdies on the 2nd and 3rd holes. She finished with 'stepping stone birdies' on the 6th and 8th holes. She missed the green only three times with her 'pinpoint iron shots' and combined that with an average of 1.72 putts per hole, a 'stingy putting' performance. Kim Se-young also expressed confidence, saying, "My shot feel is good."

Jessica Korda (USA) leads with 6-under, while rookies such as Kawamoto Yui (Japan) and Patty Tavatanakit (Thailand) joined the tie for 2nd place. From Korea, Choi Woon-jung (30) is tied for 8th at 2-under, and Jeon In-ji (26, KB Financial Group) is tied for 16th at 1-under. Meanwhile, 'Golf Queen' Park In-bi (32, KB Financial Group) fell to a tie for 55th place with a 2-over score due to poor form. Diamond Resort Tournament champion Gaby Lopez (Mexico) is also worried about the 'cut off' after finishing tied for 96th at 6-over.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.