2-under-par 70 puts her one stroke ahead; only 7 players finish under par

Seo Gyo-rim, season's wins leader, shares 22nd; Ryu Hae-ran in 12th

Kim Min-sol plays a bunker shot on the first hole during the first round of the 26th Hite Jinro Championship at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. [KLPGA]
Kim Min-sol plays a bunker shot on the first hole during the first round of the 26th Hite Jinro Championship at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. [KLPGA]

Kim Min-sol grabbed the solo lead Thursday in the opening round of the 26th Hite Jinro Championship, the final major of the KLPGA Tour season, which carries a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.11 million).

Kim carded three birdies and one bogey for a 2-under-par 70 at Blue Heron Golf Club (par 72) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, finishing one stroke ahead of a group tied for second at 1-under 71 that included Kim Ji-su, Yoon Su-a, Seo Eo-jin, Lee Seung-yeon, Park Bo-gyeom and Moon Jeong-min.

Having already claimed three wins this season — including one major — Kim is chasing a fourth, which would make her the first rookie in KLPGA Tour history to win four times in a single season.

Seo Gyo-rim, born in 2006 and the tour's wins leader with four victories this season, struggled on the day. She made three birdies but gave back strokes with three bogeys and a double bogey to finish at 2-over 74, tied for 22nd.

Ryu Hae-ran tees off on the first hole during the first round of the 26th Hite Jinro Championship at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. [KLPGA]
Ryu Hae-ran tees off on the first hole during the first round of the 26th Hite Jinro Championship at Blue Heron Golf Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. [KLPGA]

Players battled a demanding layout featuring thick rough, narrow fairways and severely undulating greens. Only seven competitors finished the day under par.

Kim made her first birdie at the par-5 seventh hole, then added back-to-back birdies at the par-4 ninth and par-5 10th to reach 3 under. She dropped a shot with her only bogey of the day at the par-3 11th but parred every remaining hole to close out the round.

A key moment came at the 14th hole, where her second shot flew over the green and into the rough, yet she saved par by sinking a 5.3-meter putt. When co-leader Moon Jeong-min made a bogey at the par-4 17th, Kim stood alone atop the leaderboard.

Ryu Hae-ran, who won back-to-back majors on the LPGA Tour this season, picked up two birdies on the front nine but dropped three shots on the back nine to finish at 1-over 73, tied for 12th.


yjc@heraldcorp.com