Ko Jin-young 7-Under Par Thrill... 'Victory GO at the Legend Tournament'

1st Round of Sorensdam-Hosted Tournament: 1 Stroke Behind, Tied 2nd
Henderson Leads, Jutanugarn and Thompson Tied 6th
Jeon In-ji and Yoo Hae-ran Tied 17th, Korda 31st

World No. 4 Ko Jin-young has begun her march toward victory at a tournament hosted by golf legend Annika Sorenstam (Sweden).

On the 9th (local time), at the Pelican Golf Club (par 70, 6,268 yards) in Belleair, Florida, USA, Ko Jin-young played the first round of the LPGA Tour's The Annika Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican (total prize money $3.25 million) without a bogey, recording seven birdies. She is tied for second place, one stroke behind, along with Patty Tavatanakit (Thailand) and Minami Katsu (Japan), at 7-under 63.

Ko Jin-young is teeing off at the 14th hole in the first round of the Annikka Driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. [Bel Air, USA=Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

Ko Jin-young made two sets of three consecutive birdies on holes 7 to 9 and 11 to 13, then added another birdie on the 17th hole (par 4). She hit all fairways and missed the green only three times. She made 26 putts. She said, "I think it's been a long time since I played such a good round, so I'm happy. I had several good putts and good shots. I want to keep competing over the next three days."

Brooke Henderson (Canada) took the top of the leaderboard with nine birdies and one bogey, posting 8-under 62. Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) and Lexi Thompson (USA) are tied for sixth place at 6-under 64. Jeon In-ji and Yoo Hae-ran are tied for 17th at 4-under 66. Nelly Korda (USA), aiming for her third consecutive win, is tied for 31st at 3-under 67. World No. 2 Lilia Vu (USA) and Lydia Ko (New Zealand) also joined this group.

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