Latest news with #ShopRiteLPGA
USA Today
8 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Sei Young Kim aces 76-yard par-3 17th to take clubhouse lead at ShopRite LPGA
Sei Young Kim aces 76-yard par-3 17th to take clubhouse lead at ShopRite LPGA Sei Young Kim aced the small but mighty 17th at the ShopRite LPGA Classic to post the clubhouse lead. The 32-year-old South Korean holed out from 76 yards on the penultimate hole with a pitching wedge, clanking it off the flagstick and into the cup. She followed it with a birdie on the closing par 5 at Seaview's Bay Course to post a 6-under 65 and get to 12 under for the tournament. Kim is a 12-time winner on the LPGA, though winless since 2020. "I hit the right number and I saw the bounce, one, and in," said Kim. "I was like, wow. My skin everywhere was goosebump." At the time of Kim's ace, the par-3 17th was ranked 15th in difficulty on Sunday with a scoring average 2.84. As Kim finished up her round, the leader, Jennifer Kupcho, was just making the turn on a rainy, windy, and chilly afternoon near Atlantic City. Kim was rolling along with birdies on six of her first 13 holes before a double-bogey on the 14th and bogey on the 15th seemingly dropped her out of contention. "It was like a rollercoaster, up and down, up and down," said Kim. "Yeah, back nine starting four hole I made three in a row birdie. My thoughts like it could be win, possibly. "That thinking made me a little bit nervous. That's why my tee shot hole 14 goes way right." The ace on the 17th was the third of her career, with two coming on the LPGA and one on the Korean LPGA. After the round, Kim changed her flight to see how the rest of the afternoon unfolds and prepare for a possible playoff.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Szokol, Ilhee Lee shoot 62s to share LPGA lead
Elizabeth Szokol birdied the first five holes and shot an eight-under 62 for a share of the first-round lead with Ilhee Lee in the LPGA Classic. Playing on Friday afternoon at Seaview's Bay Course, Szokol followed her opening birdie run with a bogey on No.6, then added birdies on Nos. 8, 9, 13 and 16. "Happy to get off to a great start and really looking forward to the weekend," Szokol said. "Lots of golf left. Really excited to see good golf and hard work paying off today." The 30-year-old American teamed with Cheyenne Knight to win the 2023 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational for her only tour victory. Five straight birdies to start off her week at the @ShopRiteLPGA propels Elizabeth Szokol to the top of the leaderboard 🔝🔥 — LPGA (@LPGA) June 6, 2025 Top-ranked Nelly Korda opened with a 71, and No.2 Jeeno Thitikul had a 68. Maja Stark, the US Women's Open winner Sunday at Erin Hills, shot 70. Lee birdied three straight holes three times - on Nos.3-5, 8-10 and 16-18 - and had one bogey in her morning round. The 36-year-old South Korean won the 2013 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic for her lone tour title. "I don't have expectation," Lee said. "I just play golf. I just come out, have fun. That's all I do." Japan's Akie Iwai was third after a 65 in one of only two 54-hole tournaments left on the LPGA Tour schedule. The other is the Walmart NW Arkansas Open. "Normally four days, so I feel fast, shorter tournament," Iwai said. "That's why we must make a lot birdies." Wei-Ling Hsu was at 66 with Aline Krauter, Ayaka Furue, Polly Mack, Saki Baba, Dewi Weber and Gurleen Kaur. Robyn Choi is the leading Australian after shooting a three-under 68. In a tie for 20th, Choi had six birdies but spoilt her card with a double bogey on the second that was followed by a bogey on the par-five third - her 11th and 12th holes. One shot further behind in a tie for 34th is Karis Davidson, who had four birdies and two bogeys. Defending champion Linnea Strom shot 72.
