The Republic of Korea natives in the field this week at Seowon Valley Country Club are showing up and showing out early at the BMW Ladies Championship.

Five Korean athletes are currently sitting in the top five after day one in Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea, after recording a combined first-round score of 33-under at the Seowon Hills Course.

Jenny Shin leads the way for the Korean contingent, carding a bogey-free, 8-under 64 to hold the 18-hole co-lead alongside Ashleigh Buhai and Hannah Green. The 32-year-old made eight birdies on Thursday, two of which were back-to-back on the par-4 5th and 6th holes and three of which came consecutively on holes 14, 15 and 16.

The 64 is Shin’s second-lowest round on the LPGA Tour this season and is her first score of 64 or better since she shot 63 on day one of the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer. It’s just the third time in her career that Shin has held the 18-hole lead/co-lead on the LPGA Tour and her first time doing so since the 2018 Ascendant LPGA benefitting Volunteers of America.

Shin was pleased with her Thursday effort at Seowon Valley Country Club, particularly as she feels like she usually struggles to play well in her home country, and will be looking for more of the same strong golf over the next three rounds at the BMW Ladies Championship as she works to add another top finish to her solid 2024 resume.

“Collectively, shots, short game, putting inside 10 feet was working well. I think I stayed patient, and it paid off,” Shin said. “I usually struggle on Korean golf courses. I think I let go of that expectation of being a Korean and needing to show a certain result. I think I've always had a very high expectation of that. I think I stayed patient and let myself shine without trying so hard.”

Nipping on the heels of the first-round leaders is two-time LPGA Tour winner Haeran Ryu, who made one bogey and eight birdies en route to an opening 7-under 65 at the BMW Ladies Championship. She birdied two of the four par 3s, two of the four par 5s and four of the 10 par 4s at the Seowon Hills Course, while her lone bogey of the day came on the par-4 9th hole.

The 65 is Ryu’s ninth round of 65 or better on the LPGA Tour this season and her first since she carded a 65 on day two of the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, where she ultimately finished solo third. This week marks the 23-year-old’s third start in the BMW Ladies Championship, and even though she hasn’t played in every previous edition of this tournament, the local fans still turned out in droves to watch Ryu compete on Thursday, a presence that she greatly appreciated throughout the first round at Seowon Valley Country Club.

“The LPGA Tour is a huge stage, but women's golf in Korea has a huge presence,” said Ryu. “Today's first round, it's a Thursday, so I didn't expect so many people to turn up, and I had a fan club there, so that really goes to my morale, and just overall, being in Korea and being able to speak Korean, I had a lot of things going for me that helped calm me.”

Three Koreans are currently in a tie for fifth at 6-under total. LPGA Tour rookie Yu Jin Sung recorded her first round of 66 or better since The Amundi Evian Championship in the first round of the BMW Ladies Championship. The 24-year-old made one bogey and seven birdies in round one, two sets of which came back-to-back on holes two, three, 11 and 12.

Sung only missed one green in regulation and three fairways on day one at the Seowon Hills Course, but she heavily credited her mental strategy as the reason for her impressive performance in the opening round.

“The strategies that I had in mind actually played out the way I had in my head, so it worked for me,” Sung said. “My strategy going in today was not to overdo it, and I just wanted to focus on each hole and not so much on the overall score. I tried to keep my mind off that, and I was able to do that today.”

Hye-Jin Choi’s bogey-free 66 is her lowest round on the LPGA Tour since she shot 64 in the first round of the Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club. Even though she only joined the LPGA Tour in 2022, the 25-year-old has teed it up in all four previous editions of the BMW Ladies Championship, earning a tournament-best result of T3 as a rookie in 2022.

She hadn’t earned a top-10 result on the LPGA Tour since tying for seventh at the Dana Open in July until she tied for fifth at last week’s Buick LPGA Shanghai after carding a 10-under 62 in the final round at Qizhong Garden Golf Club, a finish that has clearly renewed Choi’s self-belief with the end of the season looming large.

“I think in China, the first two rounds, my shots were unstable, and there were parts I was a bit confused,” said Choi. “But in the final round, I gained confidence, and that momentum continues today. I'm really satisfied with my play today. I think I was hitting it really well, and I made a lot of pars. A little bit of miss the opportunities here and there, but overall, I'm very satisfied with my game today.”

Major champion Eun-Hee Ji was one of 10 players to receive a sponsor exemption into this year’s edition of the BMW Ladies Championship and is working to make the most of this playing opportunity in her home country. Like Shin and Choi, Ji was bogey-free in round one, carding six birdies en route to her opening 66, three of which came consecutively on holes 15, 16 and 17.

The 6-under effort is Ji’s lowest round on Tour since she carded a 64 in the final round of the Portland Classic in August and is her second-lowest 18-hole score of the 2024 season. She hasn’t finished in the top 10 on the LPGA Tour in over a year, last doing so when she tied for fourth at the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open last season.

Ji will be working to rectify that fact this week at the BMW Ladies Championship and is well on her way to accomplishing that goal after her strong start at Seowon Valley Country Club, one she will look to build upon over the next 54 holes in her native Korea.

“I was hitting really well, and I didn't make any mental mistakes, and I think that really contributed to my score,” said Ji. “I heard that it's going to rain (on Friday), and so we need to be prepared for rougher weather. But I think as long as I'm hitting it as well as I am today, the weather shouldn't be that much of an issue. I think overall, today, in all parts of my game, I was doing quite well.”

Five Republic of Korea Natives in Top Five After Day One of BMW Ladies Championship

Related Articles