The Riviera Maya Open in Mexico is missing 22 of the world's top 25 ranked players. In their place, 21 of the tour's 28 rookies are competing. With top-ranked players largely absent, the tournament has become a stage of opportunity for lower-ranked players and rookies. Last year, Chisato Iwai of Japan, a member of the 2025 rookie class, took the title.
A strong rookie surge was on full display in the first round held Tuesday (Korea time) at the par-72 El Camaleón Golf Course in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Melanie Green of the U.S., ranked seventh on the rookie list, took a share of the lead at 6-under 66 alongside compatriot Brianna Do, powered by a hole-in-one. Three rookies — Erika Hara and Kokona Sakurai of Japan, and Supichaya Vinijchaitham of Thailand — tied for fourth at 4-under 68. Including Natasha Oon of Malaysia and Carolina Melgrati of Italy, who tied for 10th at 3-under 69, six rookies landed in the top 10.
Amid the rookie surge, Korean LPGA rookies Hwang Yoo-min and Lee Dong-eun found themselves precariously placed on the cut line.
Hwang, who leads the rookie rankings, shot a 1-over 73 to sit tied for 61st, right at the projected cut line, while Lee was just below at tied for 71st with a 2-over 74.
Hwang rallied down the stretch to barely slip inside the projected cut line. She showed some shakiness on the front nine with consecutive bogeys on the par-3 4th and par-5 5th, dropping two shots, but recovered on the back with two birdies and a bogey to trim one stroke and secure a second round.
Lee, who started on the 10th hole, played well on the front but faltered on the back. She opened with a bogey on the 11th but finished the front in 2-under with a birdie on the par-5 13th and an eagle on the par-5 18th. On the back nine, she added a birdie on the par-5 7th but gave back strokes with five bogeys. Back-to-back bogeys on the par-3 8th and par-4 9th to close were especially costly.
Among Korean players, Joo Su-bin posted the best result, tying for fourth at 4-under 68. Im Jin-hee and Choi Un-jung also got off to solid starts at 2-under 70, tied for 17th.
Meanwhile, Jeongeun Lee6 at tied for 71st (2-over 74) and Park Sung-hyun at tied for 108th (6-over 78) will have to fight to make the cut.
Even as rookies dominated the leaderboard, one threatening development looms over the entire field. Nelly Korda of the U.S., the world No. 1 and a surprise entrant, is tied for fourth at 4-under 68. Korda, who won last week's major Chevron Championship with a dominant performance, has put together a remarkable run of "win-2nd-2nd-2nd-win" across her five tournaments this year.
