No Seung-hee takes the lead with a 9-under round. [Photo=KLPGA]
No Seung-hee takes the lead with a 9-under round. [Photo=KLPGA]

No Seung-hee fired a bogey-free 9-under 63 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the KLPGA Tour's McCall·Mona Yongpyong Open, which carries a purse of 1 billion won ($647,000).

Playing Friday at Birchhill Country Club (par 72, 6,491 yards) in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon Province, No carded nine birdies without a bogey to post a 9-under 63 and lead second-place Kim Min-sol by two strokes.

No, a three-time winner on tour, kept her focus sharp throughout with a steady stream of birdies. She opened with back-to-back birdies on holes 2 and 3, added a 2-meter birdie on the par-4 7th, then strung together consecutive birdies on holes 9 and 10.

She followed with a long-range 11-meter birdie on the par-4 13th, then birdied holes 15 and 16 in succession. On the par-5 18th, her third shot settled 3.5 meters from the pin and she converted for birdie to close out the round. Her tee shot on 18 drifted right, but the ball struck a cart path and bounced into the rough — a fortunate break that left her with a clean approach.

The 63 was the best score of No's career. It also fell one stroke short of the course record of 62 set by Ko Ji-woo in the second round of this tournament last year. After the round, No said her goal Friday had been a bogey-free round. "I achieved that goal and also set a new career-best score, so I'm very happy," she said. "My shots were stable overall and my putting followed along nicely, which let me make a lot of birdies. There were some mishits, but I was lucky."

No is chasing her fourth career title, exactly one year after winning the Heaven Masters last June. She has made nine cuts in 12 starts this season and sits 13th on the money list. Her best results this year are a pair of tied-third finishes at the Korea Women's Open and the SH Suhyup Bank MBN Women's Open.

Kim Min-sol, the first player to reach two wins this season, carded eight birdies and one bogey for a 7-under 65 to claim sole second place. Starting on the 10th hole, Kim birdied holes 10 and 11 back to back, then ran off three consecutive birdies on holes 13 through 15. She kept the momentum going on the front nine, picking up two more birdies on holes 2 and 3 to finish with three birdies and one bogey on the inward half.

Rookie Yang Hyo-jin posted a bogey-free 6-under 66 — featuring one eagle and four birdies — to join Bae So-hyeon and Yoo Seo-yeon 2 in a tie for third. Yang holed out for eagle on the par-4 14th, draining her second shot from 60 meters with a 58-degree wedge.

Defending champion Ko Ji-woo opened with a 4-under 68 to share 13th place alongside Im Hee-jeong, Im Jin-young, Jang Eun-su, Lee So-young and Han Jin-seon.

Seo Gyo-rim, who claimed her second win of the season at last week's Inca Financial The Heaven Masters, shot a bogey-free 3-under 69 with three birdies to tie for 21st alongside Yoo Hyeon-jo and Jeon Woo-ri.


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