The sensation of two rookies who debuted this season is unusual. On the first day of the Korea Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour Nexen Saint Nine Masters (total prize money of 800 million won), where strong winds of up to 11m per second blew, it was Kim Min-byeol (19, Hite Jinro) and Hwang Yoo-min (19, Hite Jinro) who took the top spot on the leaderboard, beating the outstanding older sisters. 20 Lotte).
In the first round of the tournament held at Gaya CC (par 72) in Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do on the 21st, Kim Min-byeol had 5 birdies and 1 bogey, and Hwang Yu-min had 6 birdies and 2 bogeys, hitting a 4 under par 68. She is tied for second place, one stroke behind Jeong Yeon-joo, the solo leader at 5 under par.스포츠토토
Kim Min-byeol, who took the top spot in the regular tour seed match at the end of last year, is showing off his presence at the same time as his debut this season. It is on the rise in the top 10 for two weeks in a row. Last week, in the last hole of the Mediheal and Hankook Ilbo Championships, he missed a 30 cm putt and tied for third place, but it was a scene that viewers regretted even more. If we put it in, we could have finished in a tie for second place. The difference in prize money between a tie for second place and a tie for third place was 48 million won.
Sadness was not kept in mind. On this day, Minbyul Kim, who started from hole 10, caught a 3m birdie with a 329-yard driver shot on hole 11 (par 4). In holes 12 (par 4) and 15 (par 4), two birdies were added with sharp iron shots that put the second shot 2m inside and 1.5m inside the pin, respectively. In the second half, he added two birdies to lead alone with one hole left, but he allowed Hwang Yu-min to lead with a bogey on the last hole (par 5). After the match, Kim Min-byeol looked back and said, “I miscalculated the wind on the second shot on the last hole and missed the club selection.” He said, “I think this tournament will be greatly affected by the wind.”
Hwang Yoo-min, who returned after experiencing a strong wind at the Lotte Championship of the LPGA Tour held in Hawaii last week, seemed to have adapted to the wind, and recorded the best score among domestic rounds this season. Hwang Yoo-min explained, “In Hawaii, the ball overcame the wind well even when the wind blew, but here the ball got a lot more wind from the tip than I thought.” Hwang Yoo-min, who boasted a long hit comparable to Kim Min-byul with a maximum of 319 yards, liked the second half better, contrary to Kim Min-byeol. After finishing the first half at 1 under par, he caught only 3 birdies in the second half thanks to a high-sensitivity wedge shot.
It was unfortunate that I missed birdies on the last two holes that could have put me in the lead. In the 8th hole (par 4), a long distance birdie putt came back after hitting the hole, and the 3m birdie putt in the 9th hole (par 5) did not finish. Hwang Yoo-min said, “I hope tomorrow will be better than today. I will work really hard to win the remaining rounds,” he said, burning his will for the first victory. After filming Jeju and Hawaii for the past two weeks and marching hard to the Gimhae Games, he said, “There is no problem physically. He doesn’t mind the jet lag too much,” he says briskly.
Jeong Yeon-ju, who has one win in her career, took the lead alone with an eagle shot on the 12th hole (par 4), 156 yards. Lee So-mi and Hong Ji-won tied for 4th at 3 under par, and Kim Su-ji, who won the Grand Prize last year, tied for 6th at 2 under par with Park Ji-young. Park Ji-young is running first in prize money, grand prize points, and average number of strokes by winning, runner-up, and flying high in a tie for 8th place in three competitions this season.