‘Late bloomer’ Bae Sohyun 5-under par... ‘I’ll be the first to 4 wins’

KB Financial Star Championship 1R Leading by 1 Stroke
Chasing 2 Consecutive Wins Since Last Week's KG Ladies Open
First Major Victory Opportunity, Challenging 'Domestic Number 1'

The rising momentum of '3-time champion' Bae So-hyun is remarkable.

Bae Sohyun is making an iron shot on the 1st hole of the 1st round at the KB Financial Star Championship.
[Photo by KLPGA]

On the 5th, at Blackstone Icheon Golf Club (par 72, 6,689 yards) in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, during the first round of the KB Financial Star Championship, the fourth major tournament of the KLPGA Tour season (total prize money 1.2 billion KRW, winner's prize 216 million KRW), she shot a 5-under-par 67 to top the leaderboard. She showcased a perfect performance with five birdies and no bogeys. Since her first career win at the 154th tournament in the E1 Charity Open last May, she has been aiming for her fourth victory first, following last month's The Haven Masters and last week's KG Ladies Open.

Bae So-hyun is a late bloomer. After joining in October 2011, she mainly played on the Dream (2nd tier) Tour and Jump (3rd tier) Tour. She entered the main tour by winning the Dream Tour money title in 2016 but lost her tour card due to poor results. She returned to the main tour in 2020 and has consistently ranked in the top 5 each season since 2021, maintaining a position within the top 30 in the money rankings. This year, she has also shown consistent performance and is tied for the most wins alongside Park Ji-young, Lee Ye-won, and Park Hyun-kyung (all with 3 wins).