Choi Hye-jin Ties for 2nd Place... Ko Jin-young Stalls at 1-Under Par "Ends Consecutive Rounds in the 60s"

JTBC Classic Day 2: Masen Leads, Ko Jin-young and An Na-rin Tied 4th in 'Chase', Defending Champion Park In-bee Tied 9th

Choi Hye-jin rose to a tie for 2nd place on the second day of the JTBC Classic.

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] Choi Hye-jin (23, Lotte) is on her 'first victory march.'

On the 26th (Korean time), at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California, USA (par 72, 6,609 yards), the second day of the LPGA Tour JTBC Classic (total prize money $1.5 million) ended with her adding 4 under par to rise to a tie for 2nd place (9 under par 135). Nanna Madsen (Denmark) leads by 2 strokes (11 under par 133), and Lydia Ko (New Zealand) has joined the tie for 2nd place. World No. 1 Ko Jin-young (27) faltered with 1 under par and remains tied for 4th place (8 under par 136).

Choi Hye-jin is a leading star who has won a total of 10 titles on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour, including 2 as an amateur. She swept the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards in 2018, and in 2019 dominated with multiple wins, leading money, lowest scoring average, and Player of the Year honors ? truly a 'Choi Hye-jin era.' She won the Player of the Year award for three consecutive years through 2020. After qualifying through the Q-Series last December, she moved to the U.S. this year and has been progressing steadily with a tie for 8th at the Gainbridge LPGA in January and a tie for 15th at the LPGA Drive On Championship in February.

On this day, she recorded 5 birdies and 1 bogey. She opened with a birdie on the 3rd hole (par 3), had her only bogey on the 7th hole (par 4), but bounced back with a birdie on the 8th hole (par 5). In the back nine, she made 'stepping stone birdies' on the 10th and 12th holes, and finished with a birdie on the 18th hole (par 4). Her fairway hit rate was 78.57%, and her pinpoint iron shots, missing the green only twice, stood out. She had 31 putts, and it was somewhat regrettable that she could not lower her score further.

Madsen became the first Danish LPGA Tour champion on the 13th at the Honda LPGA Thailand. After a late surge with 8 under par on the final day to reach a tie for the lead (26 under par 262), she won in a second playoff hole against Lin Xiyu (China) on the 18th hole (par 5) with an 'eagle to win,' drawing even more spotlight. She has a chance for back-to-back wins in two tournaments. Lydia Ko is also looking at her second win after her Gainbridge LPGA victory.

Ko Jin-young faltered with 1-under par on the second day of the JTBC Classic, ending her streak of consecutive rounds in the 60s.

Locally, Ko Jin-young's '60-round streak of scoring in the 60s' became an off-course topic. Due to erratic iron shots, she made 3 birdies and 2 bogeys for a 71, ending the streak at 16 rounds. However, her under-par streak continues for 32 consecutive rounds. Another rookie, An Na-rin (26, Mediheal), is tied for 4th place, and defending champion Park In-bee (34, KB Financial Group) improved by 4 strokes to tie for 9th place (5 under par 139). She is still well positioned to defend her title. Kim Hyo-joo (27) is tied for 16th (4 under par 140), and Yang Hee-young (33) is tied for 20th (3 under par 141).

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