Hong Jung-min takes early lead on first day of Hana Championship

Golf

Published: 29 Sep. 2022, 17:45

Hong Jung-min takes early lead on first day of Hana Championship

Hong Jung-min tees off on the first hole during the first round of the Hana Financial Group Championship on Thursday at Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon. [KLPGA]

Hong Jung-min will enter the second round of the Hana Financial Group Championship in pole position at Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon, after topping the leaderboard over the first 18 holes on Thursday.

Hong carded a six-under-par, 66, to take a one-stroke lead over Ryu Hae-ran and Bae Su-yeon, who are tied for second place.

Hong will be looking to continue her form into the next three rounds and win her second-ever KLPGA title. Hong won her maiden title at the Doosan Match Play Championship in May.

The Hana Championship is the 24th tournament of the season with a total field of 108 golfers. It has also been part of the Ladies Asian Tour (LAT) series, organized by the Asian Golf Leaders Forum (AGLF), since 2020.

Thursday was the first time in three years that the Hana Championship teed off with a gallery following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

All 108 golfers are competing for a record purse of 1.5 billion won ($1 million), a new Tour record pot, with the winner taking 270 million won. With the biggest purse on the Tour, the results could cause a major shift in the year-long money rankings.

But not all 108 players will have a shot at a share of the winnings, as there will be a cut after the end of the second round on Friday with only the top 60 players able to continue into the weekend.

Rookie players also put on a strong performance in the opening round, with three making it into the top 10.

Yoo Gee-na and Lee Ye-won both carded a four-under-par, 68, to tie for fourth place while Ko Ji-u carded a three-under-par, 69, to tie for 10th place.

Yoo will be looking to make her fourth cut of the season, after missing the cut in 19 tournaments this year, while Lee Ye-won is looking to build on her lead in the ongoing race for Rookie of the Year.

A Hana Championship win could change the rookie rankings, as 310 points are up for grabs at Bear’s Best.

Lee Ye-won currently leads the rookie points table with 2,157 points, having added 140 points after a runner-up finish at the OKSavingsBank Se Ri Pak Invitational last week.

Second-placed Ma Da-som has 1,780 points and third-place Ko Ji-u has 1,690 points.

Jaravee Boonchant of Thailand, who is a rookie on the Epson Tour, the qualifying tour for the LPGA Tour, also carded a four-under-par, 68, to tie for fourth place.

Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand tees off on the ninth hole during the first round of the Hana Financial Group Championship on Thursday at Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon. [KLPGA]

Kim Hyo-joo reacts after putting on the second hole during the first round of the Hana Financial Group Championship on Thursday at Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon. [KLPGA]

Minjee Lee of Australia tees off on the first hole during the first round of the Hana Financial Group Championship on Thursday at Bear's Best Cheongna in Cheongna, Incheon. [KLPGA]

LPGA golfers Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand, Kim Hyo-joo and Minjee Lee of Australia weren’t able to make an impact on the first day of the championship.

After carding one birdie and three bogies, Tavantanakit was still able to end her first round with a bang, carding a birdie in the par-5 17th and an eagle in the par-4 18th to finish with a total score of one-under-par, 71, landing at No. 27 on the leaderboard.

Kim Hyo-joo struggled to find birdies on Thursday. After bogeying the par-4 eighth, she added another bogey in the second-to-last hole and also bogied the last hole to card a three-over-par, 75, tying for 79th place.

Top-ranked world No. 4 Minjee Lee also struggled in the first round. She carded a double bogey on the par-4 eight and, despite bouncing back right away with a birdie on the next par-5 ninth, she bogied the par-3 16th and the par-4 18th, also tying for 79th place.

Defending champion Song Ga-eun, who is looking for her second win of the season, carded a one-over-par and tied for 51st.

Last year, Song made a name for herself at the Hana Championship, winning her first KLPGA title. Song had beaten top-ranked Minjee Lee in a sudden-death playoff at Pocheon Adonis Country Club in Pocheon, Gyeonggi at the time to win her maiden title.

The Hana Championship will run until Sunday.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]