Kim Min-sol shoots 68, Seo Gyo-rim 70 in tight first-round battle at KLPGA Championship

Kim Min-sol tees off on the 13th hole during the first round of the BC Card-Hankyung 48th KLPGA Championship at Pocheon Hills Country Club's Garden-Palace Course in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. [KLPGA]

Twenty-year-old KLPGA Tour rivals Kim Min-sol and Seo Gyo-rim were locked in a tight battle from the opening round of the BC Card-Hankyung 48th KLPGA Championship, the tour's second major of the season, which carries a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.07 million).

Kim, who has three wins this season, carded 4-under 68 on Thursday at Pocheon Hills Country Club's Garden-Palace Course (par 72) in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, posting one eagle and five birdies against three bogeys.

Kim had been on the verge of victory at last week's Mediheal-Korea Ilbo Championship before Seo came from behind to beat her. She finished in a tie for second, one stroke off sole leader Song Eun-a (5-under 67), and held a two-stroke advantage over Seo, her playing partner.

Kim's fairway hit rate of 61.5 percent was modest, but she missed only three greens in regulation, a testament to her precise iron play. After going 2 under through seven holes, she holed out her second shot from 116 yards on the par-4 8th for an eagle.

Kim added a birdie on the par-5 10th but stumbled with consecutive bogeys on the par-4 15th and par-3 16th as her ball-striking briefly went awry. She recovered to close her round by sinking a 4-meter birdie putt on the par-5 18th.

"Last week, I made tee-shot mistakes at critical moments," Kim said. "If a chance to win comes this week, I will focus on not repeating those mistakes."

Seo Gyo-rim tees off on the 13th hole during the first round of the BC Card-Hankyung 48th KLPGA Championship at Pocheon Hills Country Club's Garden-Palace Course in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. [KLPGA]

Seo, who also has three wins this season, finished the opening round in a tie for 11th after carding 2-under 70 on three birdies and one bogey.

Seo hit 84.6 percent of fairways for a steady off-the-tee performance, but her putter let her down and she converted few of her birdie opportunities.

"I didn't fully read how the rain had slowed the greens," Seo said, adding that she remained confident heading into the remaining rounds. "If I stay patient, the birdie chances will come again."

yjc@heraldcorp.com