Lydia Ko caught 8 birdies without bogey in the first round of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International (total prize money: $5 million) 바카라 held at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club (par 72, 6295 yards) in Saudi Arabia on the 16th. Having tied for the lead with Pazari Anannarukan (Thailand), he was one stroke ahead of Hong Jung-min, Ataya Tittikkun (Thailand), and Aditi Yashok (India), who were tied for third.
Lydia Ko, who won the final round of the 2022 season of the LPGA Tour last November, married Jung Joon, the son of Hyundai Card Vice Chairman Chung Tae-young, at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul on December 30. She chose to go to Saudi Arabia for her first competition in 2023. The Saudi Ladies International is a European tour event, but only 60 tour members competed. Ten players were invited, and 50 non-members ranked in the top 300 in the world were allowed to participate. The total prize money of the tournament (approximately 6.5 billion won), sponsored by Saudi Arabian capital, has increased five times from last year.
“I was really confident with my putter today,” said Lydia Ko, the 2021 event champion. During her two-week honeymoon, she made eight rounds and also recorded her hole-in-one, she says. “Her husband likes to play golf,” he said, out with her new caddy, David Jones. Golf is something her husband and I can do together,” she said. “On this course, you have to make good use of the wind.”
15 of the top 30 players in the world rankings participated in this event. There are 13 major championship champions. Seventeen Korean players, including those who play on the US LPGA tour as well as the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour, participated. Lim Hee-jung finished the first round with a tie for 6th place (6 under par), Kim Hyo-joo and Yoo Hae-ran tied for 8th place (5 under par), and Jeon In-ji tied for 30th place (2 under par). The championship prize money of 750,000 dollars (approximately 974 million won) is at stake.