Yoon Ina (23, Solaire) has positioned herself for a strong shot at her first LPGA Tour victory.
Yoon shot a 4-under 66 in the first round of the Kroger Queen City Championship (total purse $2 million) at Kenwood Country Club (par 70) in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sunday, recording one eagle, five birdies and three bogeys.
Tied for the lead with "mom golfer" Choi Chella (36, Volvik) and Rio Takeda of Japan, one stroke ahead of the chasing pack, Yoon is aiming for her first career win.
In her debut LPGA Tour season in 2025, Yoon struggled with just one top-10 finish. This season, however, she has already posted three top-10s in eight tournaments. Her best individual finishes are tied for fourth at last month's JM Eagle LA Championship and the Chevron Championship.
Starting at the 10th hole (par 4), Yoon got off to a strong start with a birdie on her opening hole. She added another birdie at the 16th (par 4) and made her first bogey at the 17th (par 4), but bounced back with a birdie on the next hole to maintain a steady round.
Her momentum carried into the back nine. Yoon opened with a birdie at the 1st hole (par 4), then wobbled with consecutive bogeys at the 5th (par 4) and 6th (par 4), before recovering with a picture-perfect eagle at the 7th (par 5). She closed out her round with one more birdie at the 8th (par 4) to climb into a share of the lead and boost her chances of a maiden title.
"I tried to focus on my routine rather than the result. I'm trying to concentrate only on what I need to do," Yoon said after the round. "Like in my recent tournaments, I executed that well today. In particular, I've been practicing 'focusing on the process' a lot with my mental coach, and that's been a big help."
Choi Chella also carded a 4-under round with six birdies and two bogeys to join Yoon at the top of the leaderboard.
Choi, who won the LPGA Tour Marathon Classic in 2015, stepped away from the field last year to give birth and returned this season.
World No. 1 Ko Jin-young (31, Solaire) shot a 3-under round with six birdies and three bogeys to share fourth place. Shin Ji-eun (34, Hanwha Q Cells), Kim A-rim (31, Medihill) and Lee Jeong-eun (30, Daebang Construction) finished the opening day at 1-under, tied for ninth alongside world No. 1 Nelly Korda of the U.S. and No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand.
