Park Sung-hyun and 14-Year-Old Kim Seo-a Overcome Five Bogeys to Charge Up Leaderboard

Only seven players posted bogey-free rounds on the opening day of the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour's first domestic event of the season. Ko Ji-won grabbed the solo lead at 5-under-par 67 with five birdies and no bogeys. Yang Hyo-jin and Kim So-jung shared second place at 4-under-par 68 with four birdies each, also without a bogey on their cards. Park Min-ji and An Ji-hyun posted bogey-free 3-under-par 69s to sit in a tie for fifth, while Choi Ye-rim recorded a clean 2-under-par 70 for a share of 14th. Kim Su-ji rounded out the bogey-free group with a 1-under-par 71, tied for 23rd. However, a number of top-ranked players were undone by rust from the offseason and an unfamiliar course, piling up bogeys and double bogeys. In the first round of The Siena Open (total purse: 1 billion won) held Friday at The Siena Belluto (par 72) in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, last year's money list leader Hong Jung-min made two birdies but committed six bogeys to shoot 4-over-par 76. She was tied for 95th, a position that raises cut-line concerns. Fan favorite Park Hyun-kyung failed to make a single birdie and dropped four bogeys, also sitting in a share of 95th. Kim Min-ju and Ko Ji-woo, both winners last year, were stuck at the same mark. Noh Seung-hee, who finished second on last year's money list, was another top-ranked player caught in the bogey trap. She made one birdie, two bogeys and a double bogey to finish 3-over and tied for 82nd. Bang Shin-sil, who won three titles last year and ranked fourth in prize money, made three birdies but gave back shots with one bogey and two double bogeys, finishing at 2-over-par 74, tied for 62nd. Yoo Hyun-jo, who ranked third in prize money last year but topped both the scoring average and Player of the Year points standings, also had more bogeys than birdies — three bogeys against two birdies. She sat at 1-over-par 73, tied for 48th. While many top-ranked players were rattled by bogeys, a few gutsy competitors piled up even more birdies to overcome their mistakes and climb into contention near the top of the leaderboard. Park Sung-hyun, who lost her LPGA Tour card and was relegated to the second-tier Epson Tour, was the prime example of a player who fought through bogey trouble to finish under par. She racked up five bogeys but countered with seven birdies to shoot 2-under-par 70, sitting in a tie for 14th, three shots behind leader Ko Ji-won. An even more dramatic scorecard belonged to someone else entirely. Kim Seo-a, a student at Sinseong Middle School born in January 2012, is just 14 years old. Her face is unmistakably that of a young teenager, but standing 171 centimeters tall, she stunned her older competitors by unleashing booming drives throughout the round. Kim Seo-a also made exactly five bogeys, just like Park Sung-hyun. Her birdie count also matched Park's at seven. On top of that, Kim added an eagle on a par-5 hole. Despite making five bogeys, she joined the bogey-free Yang Hyo-jin and Kim So-jung in a tie for second, trailing leader Ko Ji-won by just one stroke. What made her round even more remarkable was that she dropped three bogeys in her first four holes to fall 3-over, then stormed back over her final five holes with three consecutive birdies followed by an eagle, clawing back five strokes in a stunning display of closing power. If Park Sung-hyun's round was impressive, Kim Seo-a's was astonishing. Lee Ye-won, Seo Gyo-rim and Lee Yul-lin also shot 3-under-par 69 and are tied for fifth, poised to make a push for the lead.

Park Sung-hyun and 14-Year-Old Kim Seo-a Overcome Five Bogeys to Charge Up Leaderboard

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