▲ Kim Ga-hee
Rookie golfer Kim Ga-hee (Kim Ga-hee 2) has taken the sole lead on the first day of the Korea Women's Open, the first major tournament of the KLPGA (Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association) season and a prestigious "national title" event.
In the first round of the 40th Mercedes-Benz Korea Women's Open held today (June 11) at Lakewood Country Club in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, Kim carded a 4-under-par, recording four birdies and no bogeys.
Off to a strong start on a challenging course, Kim finished two strokes ahead of a group tied for second—including Ko Ji-won, Choi Ye-bon, and Kim Hyo-moon—to claim the top spot on the leaderboard.
Kim, who debuted on the KLPGA regular tour this year, has shown consistent performance with three top-10 finishes in her previous 10 tournaments. She currently ranks third in the Rookie of the Year points race, trailing Kim Min-sol and Choi Jung-won.
Ko Ji-won, who won the season-opening The Siena Open, finished at 2-under-par alongside Choi Ye-bon and Kim Hyo-moon, sitting two strokes behind the leader in a tie for second. Choi Ga-bin, Park Bo-gyeom, Ma Seo-young, and amateur Kim Gyu-bin are tied for fifth at 1-under-par.
Shin Ji-yai, the winner of the Korea Women's Open in 2006 and 2008, made a solid start in her first appearance at the tournament in 18 years, finishing at even par in a tie for ninth.
Park Min-ji, who recently achieved her 20th career regular tour victory to tie Shin Ji-yai's record for most wins, struggled on the first day, finishing at 4-over-par.
Defending champion Lee Dong-eun also had a sluggish start, finishing the first round at 4-over-par.
Meanwhile, Park Hyun-kyung, who has eight career KLPGA tour wins, was disqualified for violating the tournament's local rule prohibiting the use of distance-measuring devices.
The tournament, which features a total prize purse of 1.5 billion won with 400 million won going to the winner, runs through this Sunday, June 14.
(Photo: Courtesy of Korea Golf Association, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.