Se-young Kim at 3 Under Par 'Marching to 2nd Win'... Jin-young Ko Struggles at 2 Over Par

Pelican Women's Day 1: Tied 3rd at 3 Shots Back, Popov Leads at 6 Under, Park Sung-hyun Struggles at 4 Over

Se-young Kim started fresh by shooting 3 under par on the first day of the Pelican Women's Championship, tied for 3rd place.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] 'Major Queen' Kim Se-young (27, Mirae Asset, photo) is on her way to her second victory.

On the 20th (Korean time), at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, USA (par 70, 6,268 yards), Kim finished the first day of the LPGA Tour Pelican Women's Championship (total prize money $1.5 million) with a 3-under-par, tying for 3rd place with Ally McDonald (USA). Major AIG Women's Open winner Sophia Popov (Germany) leads with 6-under-par 64, followed by Ashley Buhai (South Africa) in 2nd place at 4-under-par 66, two strokes behind, in pursuit.

Kim Se-young recorded five birdies and two bogeys. She started off well with 'stepping stone birdies' on the 10th and 12th holes, added birdies on the 14th and 18th holes after a bogey on the 13th hole (par 4). However, in the back nine, she could only recover a bogey on the 2nd hole with a birdie on the 5th hole (both par 4), which was disappointing as she couldn't reduce her score further. She missed the fairway twice and the green three times but struggled on the greens with 31 putts. She is three strokes behind the leader, in a position to contend for the win.

Kim Se-young debuted on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour in 2011, winning five times before moving to the U.S. stage in 2015. She is known as the 'Queen of Comebacks' and the 'Wizard of Red Pants.' In her first year on the LPGA Tour, she won three times and earned Rookie of the Year honors. She has consistently won at least one tournament each year, accumulating a total of 11 wins. Last year, she notably won the Tour Championship, hitting the 'jackpot' of $1.5 million (about 1.68 billion KRW).

After finishing tied for 7th at the Diamond Resorts in January and 5th at Gainbridge, she faced the variable of the COVID-19 pandemic and stayed in Korea to manage her condition. She returned after seven months at the Arkansas Championship in August, finishing tied for 5th, and last month, she claimed the title of 'Major Queen' with a five-stroke victory at her third major, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. She currently ranks 1st in scoring average, 2nd in earnings, and 3rd in Player of the Year standings.

Popov dominated the leaderboard with eight birdies (including five consecutive birdies) and two bogeys. Her putting was outstanding with only 24 putts. She won her first major at the AIG Women's Open in August, rising to world No. 304 and attracting the spotlight. A total of eight players, including Park Hee-young (33, Isu Group), Kang Hye-ji (30), Brooke Henderson (Canada), and Minjee Lee (Australia), are tied for 5th place at 2-under-par 68.

Kojinyoung is attempting a chip-in on the 2nd hole during the first day of the Pelican Women's Championship.

'Number 1' Ko Jin-young (27) returned after a year since the final CME Group Tour Championship last November but struggled with one birdie and three bogeys, finishing tied for 46th at 2-over-par 72. She showed issues with her shot rhythm in competition, missing the green seven times and recording 31 putts. Other Koreans include Jeon In-ji (26, KB Financial Group) tied for 35th at 1-over-par 71, Lee Jeong-eun 6 (24, Daebang Construction) tied for 63rd at 3-over-par 73, and Park Sung-hyun (27) tied for 79th at 4-over-par 74.

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