Armed in black from cap to shoes, Yoon Eena looked like a "Black Knight of Golf" heading into battle as she played the first round of the Chevron Championship, the season's first major tournament. As is typical on major championship courses, crises came frequently. Sometimes she navigated them wisely, and sometimes she stumbled. But Yoon smiled after finishing the final hole — the smile of a winner, not a loser.
Yoon shot a 3-under 69 to tie for eighth place on the opening day of the Chevron Championship, the LPGA Tour's first major of the season, held Thursday (Korea time) at Memorial Park Golf Course (par 72) in Houston, Texas. She trails solo leader Nelly Korda of the United States, who fired a 7-under 65, by four strokes.
Yoon started on the 10th hole (par 4). Her tee shot split the middle of the fairway, out-driving playing partners Nasa Hataoka of Japan and Yan Jing of the United States by 20 yards. Although she settled for par, her long game — ranked 12th on the LPGA in driving distance at 282.73 yards — has become a formidable weapon. She missed the fairway only twice in 13 holes on the day, averaging 282 yards off the tee.
On the 220-yard 11th hole (par 3), her high-trajectory tee shot failed to cut through the headwind and landed 20 yards short of the green. But the short-game skills she has sharpened through a difficult past year allowed her to chip to within 80 centimeters and save par.
Another crisis came on the 12th hole (par 4). Her second shot went left of the green, followed by a chip shot error, leaving a 5-meter par putt. She rolled it in to save par again.
On the 13th hole (par 4), she sank a 7-meter putt for her first birdie. The ball disappeared into the cup as if it had found its way home. Opportunity had arrived after consecutive escapes. On the 14th, the first of five par 5s, she was disappointed to make par after sending her second shot to 50 yards in front of the green. But she drained a 4-meter birdie putt on the 15th hole (par 3) and added back-to-back birdies on the 16th (par 5) by sticking her third shot to one meter.
She also managed an impressive par save on the 17th hole (par 4) after missing the green. Despite a tricky undulation and a distance of over 10 meters to the hole, she put her third shot close enough for par. Crisis again turned into opportunity. On the 18th hole (par 4), with a bunker looming left of the green and the pin also tucked left, she boldly attacked the flag and sank a 4-meter birdie putt.
What halted Yoon's charge was a pair of short-putt misses. On the 1st hole (par 5), a brilliant bunker shot set up a 1.5-meter birdie opportunity, but the putt slid by. Disappointment surely crept in. On the 2nd hole (par 3), her first bogey of the day came when the cup rejected a 1-meter par putt.
Aside from those two missed short putts, Yoon's tee shot on the 3rd hole (par 5) was a "shot of anger." At under 500 yards, the short par 5 had her determined to go for the green in two. Her second shot fell just short of the putting surface, but she stuck her third to two meters and converted the birdie. A faint smile returned to her briefly frozen face.
She quietly made pars on the three consecutive par 4s from the 4th through 6th holes. But it was the calm before the storm. Disaster struck on the 7th hole (par 3), where a penalty area stretches along the front of the green. A tee shot miscue led to a fatal double bogey. Yoon later explained that the absurd shot resulted from her shoe slipping — grass had been jamming her spikes, and they failed to support her swing at the critical moment.
Her third shot, which she had to play after a one-stroke penalty, still left her a solid 140 yards out. That shot flew over the green, but she rolled in a 2-meter putt to avoid a triple bogey.
After parring the 8th hole, the fifth par 5, Yoon sank a 3-meter birdie putt on the 9th hole — her final hole of the day and fifth par 3 — to complete her scorecard of 69. In the end, she picked up two shots each on the par 4s and par 5s, while losing one on the par 3s.
Lee So-mi shot a 5-under 67 to share second place with Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand, while Lim Jin-hee and amateur Yang Yun-seo finished the first round tied for eighth with Yoon. Kim Hyo-joo, who is seeking her third win of the season, opened with a 2-under 70 to sit in a tie for 18th, while Choi Hye-jin was at 1-under 71, tied for 25th.
Hwang Yu-min and Yu Hae-ran were tied for 38th alongside Charley Hull of England, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, and Miyu Yamashita of Japan. Ko Jin-young, Chun In-gee, Hong Jeong-min, Lee Mi-hyang, Shin Ji-eun, and Australian-Korean Minjee Lee sat in a tie for 80th at 2-over 74. World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, who has yet to win a major, was also tied for 80th.
