'Rio Gold' Park In-bi Ties 7th "Starting Olympic 2nd Consecutive Win~"... Saxstrom Leads

Tokyo Olympics Women's Golf Day 1 2-Under Par "War Against Heatwave", World No.1 Korda Tied 2nd, Korea's Ko Jin-Young Tied 4th

'Rio Olympics Gold' Park In-bee is teeing off at the 1st hole on the first day of the Tokyo Olympics women's golf.

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] ‘Rio Olympics Gold’ Park In-bee (33, KB Financial Group) has made a strong start.

On the 4th, at Kasumigaseki Golf Club in Saitama Prefecture, Japan (par 71, 6,648 yards), the first day of the Tokyo Olympics women's golf event began with Park posting 2-under par, tied for 7th place. Madelene Saxstr?m (Sweden) leads at 5-under par, while world No. 1 Nelly Korda (USA) is chasing in a tie for 2nd place at 4-under par 67, one stroke behind, along with Aditi Ashok (India). Korea’s Ko Jin-young (26) is positioned in a tie for 4th place (3-under par 68), starting the gold medal competition.

Park In-bee recorded three birdies and one bogey. Starting from the 2nd hole (par 4), she made an ‘eagle-like birdie’ with sharp iron shots blazing, and secured consecutive birdies on the 5th and 6th holes. Surprisingly, she had no birdies after that. After a remarkable 11-hole par streak, she made a bogey on the final 18th hole (par 4). She said, "This is the first time I’ve played golf in such heat," and added, "I was so distracted during the last few holes of the back nine that I don’t even remember how I played."

It is interesting that Park In-bee was accompanied by Lydia Ko (New Zealand), the silver medalist from the Rio Olympics, and Feng Shanshan (China), the bronze medalist. She said, "I thought a lot about when I won the gold medal five years ago," and added, "The Olympics is a stage representing the country, so I was very nervous." She expressed regret, saying, "It’s unfortunate that a slight mistake on the 18th hole led to a bogey," and added, "Tomorrow, I will focus more on green play, including reading the breaks."

Saxstr?m swept up five birdies. Korda is the player to watch. She was the only three-time winner on the 2021 LPGA Tour. Kim Sei-young (28, Mediheal) is tied for 7th place. She shared her strategy, saying, "It’s not easy to reach the green in two shots on par 5 holes, so I think I need to focus on shots within 100 meters." Kim Hyo-joo (26, Lotte) follows in a tie for 16th place at 1-under par. Lydia Ko and hometown player Hataoka Nasa (Japan) also joined the tie for 16th place.

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