Yoo So-yeon "Starting at 2 Under Par"‥'Rookie No.1' Titikun "5 Under Par, Going for 2 Consecutive Wins"

So Yeon Ryu Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America 1R Tied 11th
Lynchi Wu Leads by 1 Stroke, Thompson Tied 4th, Jutanugarn Tied 8th
A Lim Kim and Anna Lin Tied 26th, Hye Jin Choi and Jeongeun Lee5 Tied 47th

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] So-yeon Yu (32) had a steady start.

Yoo So-yeon is teeing off at the 8th hole on the first day of the Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America.

On the 29th (local time), So-yeon Yu shot 2-under-par 69 on the first day of the Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America (total prize money $1.7 million) held at Old American Golf Club (par 71, 6,475 yards) in The Colony, Texas, USA, ranking tied for 11th. Lin Xiyu (China) leads with 6-under-par 65, while rookie leader Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) and Lizette Salas (USA) are tied for 2nd at 5-under-par 66, engaging in a chase.

So-yeon Yu made 4 birdies and 2 bogeys. After a birdie on the 4th hole was canceled out by a bogey on the 5th, she energized herself with 'stepping stone birdies' on the 6th and 8th holes. In the back nine, she only managed to recover a bogey on the 10th hole with a birdie on the 17th. Her fairway hit rate was an outstanding 84.62%, and she had 26 putts during the round. She is 4 strokes behind the leader, still in a position to hope for a comeback. So-yeon Yu debuted in 2012 and has won a total of 6 times. Her last victory was at the 2018 Meijer LPGA Classic.

Korean players have been somewhat sluggish this year. They have only 4 wins in 26 tournaments this season. Since In-ji Jeon (28) won the major KPMG Women's PGA Championship in June, they have been suffering from a drought of victories. Korean players have not won in 10 consecutive LPGA Tour events recently. This is the first time since there was no win in 17 consecutive tournaments from October 2013 to June 2014.

Atthaya Thitikul is waving to greet the gallery with applause at the 10th hole on the first day of the Ascendant LPGA Benefiting Volunteers of America.

Thitikul swept up 6 birdies (1 bogey). This is her third win of the season and her second consecutive victory following last week's Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Lexi Thompson (USA) is tied for 4th at 4-under-par 67, and Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) is tied for 8th at 3-under-par 68. Korea's Arim Kim (27), Anna Lin (26), and Ye-eun Hong (20) are tied for 26th at even par 71, while Hye-jin Choi (23) and Jeongeun Lee5 (34) are tied for 47th at 1-over-par 72 after the first round.

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