Park Minji 6-Under Par "Going for 2 Consecutive Wins"... Shin Jiae 2-Under Par

MNB Women's Open Day 1: Lee So-mi and Song Ga-eun, Gu Rye-hyun Tied for 2nd, Kim Hyo-joo 12th in 1-Stroke Chase

Park Minji is teeing off at the 12th hole on the first day of the MBN Women's Open. Photo by KLPGA

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Park Min-ji (22, NH Investment & Securities) is on a march toward her second consecutive victory.

On the first day of the KLPGA Tour Daeyu Winia MBN Women's Open (total prize money 700 million KRW) held on the 14th at Daeyu Montberr Golf Club in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province (par 72, 6,525 yards), she fired a 6-under-par to dominate the top of the leaderboard. Lee So-mi (21, SBI Savings Bank), Song Ga-eun (20, MG Saemaeul Geumgo), and Goo Rye-hyun (20, Dongbu Construction) are in a chase battle tied for 3rd place at 5-under-par. Due to bad weather followed by sunset, 24 out of 120 players have not finished the first round.

Park Min-ji racked up 7 birdies (1 bogey). Starting at the 10th hole (par 4), she lost the strokes she gained with a bogey at the 15th hole (par 3) after a birdie at the 14th hole (par 5), failing to reduce her score in the first 7 holes. However, she changed the momentum with consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th holes, followed by a birdie on the 5th hole (par 4) and a fierce finishing kick with three consecutive birdies from the 7th to 9th holes. Leading by one stroke, she is running toward defending her title, aiming for her first win of the season and her 4th career victory.

Park Min-ji said, "I am happy to finish at 6-under-par because both my shots and putts were good," adding, "I definitely want to achieve back-to-back wins." Seven players including Kim Ji-young 2 (24, SK Networks), Jang Ha-na (28, BC Card), Ji Han-sol (24), Na Hee-won (26, all Dongbu Construction), Kim Yu-bin (22, Hana Financial Group), Gong Mi-jung (23, Huons), and Hyun Se-rin (19, Daebang Construction) are tied for 5th place at 4-under-par, eyeing a comeback. Kim Hyo-joo (25, Lotte), who leads the average score ranking, and Bae Seon-woo (26) are tied for 12th at 3-under-par.

Shin Ji-ae (32), an 'overseas player' participating in a domestic tournament for the first time in two years, reduced two strokes with 3 birdies and 1 bogey. She started tied for 16th place along with Park Hyun-kyung (20, Korea Land & Housing Corporation), who leads in wins and prize money, as well as Choi Hye-jin (21, Lotte), Lee Bo-mi (32), and Yoo Hae-ran (19, SK Networks). Kim Ha-neul (32, Hite Jinro) is tied for 35th at 1-under-par, Lee Jeong-eun 6 (24, Daebang Construction) is tied for 56th at even par, and Lee So-young (23, Lotte), who leads the points for the Grand Prize, is tied for 85th at 1-over-par.

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