Yoo Hae-ran and Yang Hee-young "Start Tied 7th at 4 Under Par"

This is Yu Hae-ran's 'Rookie Power.'

On the 27th (local time), Yu Hae-ran shot 4-under par in the first round of the LPGA Tour JM Eagle LA Championship (total prize money $3 million) held at Wilshire Country Club (par 71, 6,447 yards) in Los Angeles, California, USA, placing her in a tie for 7th. Linn?a Johansson (Sweden) leads with 7-under par 64, while Minjee Lee (Australia) and Gemma Dryburgh (Scotland) are tied for 2nd, one stroke behind at 6-under par 65.

Yoo Hae-ran is smiling at the 1st hole of the 1st round of the JM Eagle LA Championship. [Los Angeles, USA=AFP·Yonhap News]

원본보기 아이콘

Yu Hae-ran made five birdies and one bogey. After reducing two strokes on the front nine with 'stepping stone birdies' on holes 4 and 6, her birdie on the 10th hole was offset by a bogey on the 11th hole (both par 4s). She showed strong finishing power by adding two more birdies on the 15th hole (par 5) and the final 18th hole (par 3). She missed the fairway only twice and had 26 putts. She is three strokes behind the leader. Yu Hae-ran's personal best was a tie for 7th at the LPGA Drive On Championship last March.

Daniel Kang (USA) is tied for 4th at 5-under par 66, Yang Hee-young is tied for 7th, and world No. 1 Nelly Korda (USA) is tied for 20th at 2-under par 69. Last week's major Chevron Championship winner Lilia Vu (USA) is also tied for 20th. South Korea's Choi Hye-jin and Choi Woon-jung are tied for 20th, Kim Hyo-joo is tied for 33rd at 1-under par 70, and Ji Eun-hee and Anna Lin are tied for 52nd at even par 71 after the first round. World No. 3 Ko Jin-young finished tied for 72nd at 1-over par 72.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.