▲ Kim A-lim
Kim A-lim and Yoon Ina tied for 4th place on the first day of the 2026 Dow Championship (total prize money of $3.3 million), a team event on the LPGA Tour.
On Friday (June 12), Kim and Yoon combined for a 2-under-par 68, recording five birdies and three bogeys in the first round held at the Midland Country Club (par 70) in Midland, Michigan.
The pair finished the first round one stroke behind the three teams tied for the lead at 3-under 67: Nicole Broch Estrup (Denmark) and Gemma Dryburgh (Scotland), Michelle Zhang (China) and Camille Boyd (USA), and Hira Naveed (Australia) and Gurleen Kaur (USA).
There are nine teams tied for 4th place, including the duo of Kim A-lim and Yoon Ina.
The Dow Championship features two-player teams. The first and third rounds are played in a foursome format, where both players alternate hitting a single ball, while the second and fourth rounds are played in a four-ball format, where each player plays their own ball and the better score counts toward the team total.
Kim A-lim debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2021 and has secured three victories, including the 2020 U.S. Women's Open, while Yoon Ina, who debuted on the LPGA Tour last year, has yet to win a tournament.
Neither player has won on the LPGA Tour this season.
Starting with a birdie on the 1st hole (par 4), Kim and Yoon performed well by reducing their score by four strokes on the front nine, including consecutive birdies on the 4th and 5th holes and a birdie on the 7th hole (par 3). However, they dropped three strokes with bogeys on the 12th, 14th, and 15th holes before finishing the day at 2-under after a birdie on the 17th hole (par 4).
The team of Kim Hyo-joo and Choi Hye-jin started in a tie for 13th at 1-under 69, while defending champions Lee So-mi and Im Jin-hee finished at even-par 70, tying for 16th place alongside the team of An Na-rin and Joo Soo-bin.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda (USA), competing in the tournament for the first time in four years, paired with Olivia Cowan (Germany) to finish at even-par 70, also tying for 16th.
Ko Jin-young, playing alongside Nasa Hataoka (Japan), finished at 1-over 71 to tie for 27th. The team of Jeon Ji-won and Kang Min-ji (4-over 74) tied for 52nd, while the duo of Lee Jeong-eun5 and Lee Jeong-eun6 (8-over 78) struggled in 71st place.
65-year-old veteran Juli Inkster (USA), an LPGA Hall of Famer with 31 career victories, teamed up with Angel Yin (USA) to shoot a 1-under 69, marking a strong start in a tie for 13th.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.