Kim Se-young's Revival Shot... "Did You See the 6-Under Surge?"

Se-young Kim Leads Founders Cup Round 1 by One Stroke
Hae-ran Yoo in 2nd, Jin-young Ko and Hye-jin Choi Tied for 3rd
A-rin An 12th, Korda and Lydia Ko Tied for 45th

This is the 'resurrection shot' of 2016 champion Kim Se-young.

On the 11th (local time), Kim Se-young dominated the top of the leaderboard with a 6-under-par 66 in the first round of the Cognizant Founders Cup (total prize money $3 million) of the U.S. Women's Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour, held at Upper Montclair Country Club (par 72, 6,656 yards) in Clifton, New Jersey, USA. Rookie Yoo Hae-ran is in second place (5-under-par 67), pursuing the lead.

Kim Sei-young is teeing off at the 2nd hole of the first round of the Cognizant Founders Cup.
[Clifton, USA=Photo by AFP and Yonhap News]

Kim Se-young swept up six birdies without a single bogey. She reduced two strokes with birdies on the 3rd and 6th holes in the front nine, then showcased her concentration with four consecutive birdies from the 12th to the 15th holes in the back nine. She relied on her power hitting an average of 285 yards and accuracy, missing the fairway and green only twice each. Leading by one stroke, Kim Se-young laid the foundation for her 13th LPGA Tour victory in two years and six months since winning the Pelican Women's Championship in November 2020. Kim Se-young is a former champion of this tournament, having won it in 2016.

Yoo Hae-ran joined the competition for the title with eight birdies and three bogeys. Ko Jin-young, who won in 2019 and 2021, started comfortably in a tie for third place (4-under-par 68). Choi Hye-jin, defending champion Minjee Lee (Australia), Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand), Nasa Hataoka (Japan), and Stacy Lewis (USA) also joined the group tied for third. Anna Lin is tied for 12th place (3-under-par 69), while world No. 1 Nelly Korda (USA) and No. 2 Lydia Ko (New Zealand) are tied for 45th place (even par 72).

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