Park Sung-hyun Stretches "Did You See the 4-Under?"... Koda 7-Under 3rd Place

Portland Classic 1R Fresh Start at 18th
Delacour Leads, Jina Kim 2nd, Megan Kang 6th
Hyojoo Kim 18th, Hyejin Choi 30th, Seyoung Kim 70th

Park Sung-hyun has stretched out for a comeback.

On the 31st (local time), she shot 4-under par in the first round of the LPGA Tour Portland Classic (total prize money $1.5 million) held at Columbia Edgewater Country Club (par 72, 6,467 yards) in Portland, Oregon, USA, to tie for 18th place. Perrine Delacour (France) leads with 9-under 63, Gina Kim is second with 8-under 64, and Nelly Korda (USA), Linn Grant (Sweden), and Olivia Cowan (Germany) are tied for third at 7-under 65.

Park Sung-hyun is teeing off at the 11th hole during the first round of the Portland Classic. [Portland (USA) = AFP·Yonhap News]

Park Sung-hyun made five birdies and one bogey. After a birdie on the 3rd hole was canceled out by a bogey on the 4th hole (both par 4s), she birdied the 7th hole (par 5) to finish the front nine at 1-under. On the back nine, she added birdies on the 10th hole (par 5) and 'stepping stone birdies' on the 14th and 16th holes to improve her position. Her shots were shaky, missing the fairway six times and the green eight times. However, her par-saving ability stood out, and her 23 putts were excellent. She is five strokes behind the leader.

Park Sung-hyun debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2017 and has won seven times in total, including two major championships, and was once ranked number one in the world. Especially during her rookie year, she swept the Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Money List titles, rising as a superstar. However, since winning the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in June 2019, she has suffered from injuries and poor form for nearly four years, going without a title. This year, she has played in 14 tournaments but missed the cut seven times, with a tie for 39th place at the ShopRite Classic in June as her best result. She is currently ranked 130th on the money list ($65,893) and has dropped to 259th in the world rankings.

Delacour showed perfect play with nine birdies and no bogeys. She entered the U.S. stage in 2013 but has yet to win a tournament. World No. 2 Korda energized the course with two sets of three consecutive birdies, laying the foundation for her first win of the season and ninth career victory. Megan Kang (USA), last week's CPKC Women's Open champion, and Sarah Kemp (Australia) are tied for sixth at 5-under 67.

Korea's Kim Hyo-joo started solidly, tied for 18th. Choi Hye-jin is tied for 30th (3-under 69), and Kim In-kyung is tied for 44th (2-under 70). Kim Se-young, who finished tied for 4th at the CPKC Women's Open, is tied for 70th (1-under 71). Jeon In-ji and Yoo Hae-ran also joined this group. World No. 1 Lilia Vu (USA) is tied for 70th, Lydia Ko (New Zealand) is tied for 87th (even par 72), and rising star Rose Zhang (USA) is tied for 122nd (2-over 74).

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