Lindy Duncan’s caddie roster is often a rotating cast of characters, but not for any sort of negative reason.

The 34-year-old has been known to use a local looper while competing week in and week out on the LPGA Tour, a strategy that’s worked particularly well for her this season, as Duncan has made 14 cuts and tallied five top-10 finishes in 20 starts this year, one of which was a tie for second that came at The Chevron Championship.

Sometimes, she’ll keep the same caddie for short two- to three-tournament stretches, depending upon her on-course needs in that moment, but other times, Duncan will use one of her LPGA Tour counterparts’ regulars when they aren’t competing, as has been the case for the first two legs of the fall Asian swing.

At last week’s Buick LPGA Shanghai, Duncan tapped Jan Meierling, who typically loops for Amy Yang, to carry her bag, as Yang wasn’t teeing it up at Qizhong Garden Golf Club. She then tied for seventh in the People’s Republic of China with a four-day total of 16-under, her first top-10 finish since the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open in July.

This week’s BMW Ladies Championship in the Republic of Korea looks similar, as Duncan has Paul Cormack, usually Lydia Ko’s looper, hoofing her sticks around Pine Beach Golf Links. Ko actually offered his services to Duncan when she decided she wasn’t going to play in Korea, and Lindy immediately took her friend up on it, a decision that has already paid off, considering she opened with an 8-under 64 in the first round of the event.

“Lydia mentioned that she might not be playing this week and that if I wanted to use Paul, I was like, ‘Absolutely, yes, that would be incredible,’” Duncan explained. “I love Paul. We've played a lot of practice rounds together. I know him really well, and working with him, he's one of the best caddies I've ever worked with. He's so focused. He really knows my game, even after just a couple of days. He just really can adapt. It's been amazing.”

The 64 that the former Duke University Blue Devil fired on day one was a flawless effort, one that saw her card eight birdies, two of which were back-to-back on the par-5 17th and par-4 18th holes and three of which came consecutively on five, six and seven.

It’s the lowest first-round score of Duncan’s LPGA Tour career, as she has never shot anything lower than a 66 to open a tournament, and it ties her second-lowest round on Tour, as she has only shot 64 or better twice at the 2018 Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America (64) and the CPKC Women’s Open (62). It’s also Duncan’s lowest round of the 2025 season, putting her on the right track to once again contend for her first career title over the next 54 holes in Korea.

“It was a really great day, bogey-free, had a lot of birdie chances and converted a lot of them,” Duncan. “It was a really fun day with Paul (Cormack), Lydia's caddie and got the good vibes from Lyds this week. It was fun.”

Duncan became friends with Ko when she joined Ko’s home course in Florida, Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, right before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The pair spent a lot of time playing golf together at the facility the first couple of years after Duncan became a member, and now, both Duncan and Ko count the other as one of their closest friends on the LPGA Tour.

“(Lydia) and her family have been so great to me and basically treat me like family. They are the best,” Duncan said about the 23-time LPGA Tour winner. “To watch her through some ups and downs and how hard she's worked through it all is just incredible. I tell people all the time, she's way better of a person than everyone even thinks she is. She's just amazing. She's the best.”

Now, after getting off to such a fast start at Pine Beach Golf Links, Duncan will be working to join her friend Lydia as a winner of the BMW Ladies Championship with three rounds remaining in the Republic of Korea. Ko won the event back in 2022 at Oak Valley Country Club.

Duncan is currently alone in third and two shots back of 18-hole leader Sei Young Kim, who carded a 62 to kick off the week, but she is more than looking forward to the upcoming chase in a country of which she is a huge fan, grateful for the opportunity to even be here in the first place as she had never qualified for the BMW Ladies Championship since it joined the LPGA schedule in 2019.

“I love Korea. I have many Korean friends. I love Korean food,” Duncan said. “This golf course is not at all what I expected. Didn't really picture the cliffs. The trees remind me a lot of Pebble Beach in California. That is my favorite place in the world, so this is right up there. I absolutely love it. The views are incredible, and the golf course is really challenging. There are a couple of deceptively hard shots, especially on some of the holes on the back nine, a lot of the greens are elevated to hit a high ball flight to get it to stop. I love being here.”

Lindy Duncan Lurking Early with Lydia Ko’s Caddie on the Bag at BMW Ladies Championship

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