Park Sung-hyun's Revival Signs "Tied 9th, 4 Strokes Behind"... Kinult "Leading by 1 Stroke"

ShopRite Classic Day 2: 2 Under Par, Cogrin 2nd, Lydia Ko and Hataoka Tied 5th, Ko Jin-young Tied 14th

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Park Sung-hyun (29, photo) shows signs of a comeback.

On the 12th (Korean time), at the Bay Course (par 71, 6,190 yards) of Seaview Golf Club in Galloway, New Jersey, USA, during the second day of the LPGA Tour ShopRite Classic (total prize money $1.75 million), she added 2 under par to sit tied for 9th place (5 under par 137). Frida Kinhult (Sweden) leads (9 under par 133), Lauren Coughlin (USA) is 2nd (8 under par 134), and Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England) is tied for 3rd (7 under par 135).

Starting tied for 7th place, 3 strokes behind the leader, Park Sung-hyun recorded 5 birdies and 3 bogeys. After a bogey on the 10th hole (par 4), she energized herself with consecutive birdies on the 11th and 12th holes, and a bogey on the 13th hole was immediately recovered with a birdie on the 14th hole (also par 4). She finished the front nine with consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. On the back nine, the only blemish was a single bogey on the 4th hole (par 4), which was a bit disappointing. She is 4 strokes behind the leader. Her impressive long drives averaged 260 yards, and she made 26 putts. Her greens in regulation rate was 55.56%.

Park Sung-hyun is a top-tier player who has won 7 LPGA Tour titles, including 2 majors. However, she has been struggling without a title for nearly three years since winning the NW Arkansas Championship in July 2019. She has been in a slump so severe that she has not finished in the top 10 even once since placing 8th at the British Open in August of the same year. This year, her best result was tied for 28th at the US Women's Open last week. However, in the last three tournaments, she has shown a clear recovery, shooting scores in the 60s over 6 rounds.

Frida Kinhult is teeing off on the 13th hole on the second day of ShopRite Classic. Galloway, USA = Getty Images / Multivitz

Kinhult posted 4 under par to take the top spot on the leaderboard. She is ranked 271st in the world and has yet to win a tournament. Lydia Ko (New Zealand) and Nasa Hataoka (Japan) are tied for 5th place (6 under par 136), looking for an opportunity. Stephanie Kyriacou (Australia), who was the leader the previous day, lost 2 strokes and dropped to tied for 14th place (4 under par 138). From Korea, Ko Jin-young (27) is tied for 14th, Lee Jeong-eun 6 (26) and Choi Hye-jin (23) are tied for 22nd (3 under par 139), and Park In-bee (34) is tied for 30th (2 under par 140).

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