'Number 1' Ko Jin-young 1 Over Par... "Not a Single Birdie"

Mizuho Americas Open 1R Tied 55th
Hartlage Leads, Ashok 2nd, Titikun 3rd
Lydia Ko 5th, Yang Heeyoung and Choi Woonjung Tied 12th

World No. 1 Ko Jin-young delivered a 'no birdie' performance.

On the 1st (local time), Ko Jin-young shot 1-over-par 73 in the first round of the LPGA Tour Mizuho Americas Open (total prize money $2.75 million) held at Liberty National Golf Club (par 72, 6,656 yards) in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. She is tied for 55th place. Ko Jin-young made par on 17 holes without a single birdie and committed one bogey.

Ko Jin-young is teeing off at the 11th hole during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open. [Jersey City, USA = AP·Yonhap News]

It is very rare for a professional player to fail to make a single birdie over 18 holes. Moreover, this is an unfamiliar experience for the 'Number 1' Ko Jin-young. The cause was putting struggles. Her shots were so accurate that she missed the green only twice, but none of her 16 birdie putts dropped into the hole. The total number of putts soared to as many as 37.

Lauren Hartlage (USA) took the top spot on the leaderboard with 7-under-par 65. She is an unknown player who debuted last year and has yet to achieve notable results. Aditi Ashok (India) is in second place at 5-under-par 67, while Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) and Stephanie Meadow (England) are tied for third at 4-under-par 68. Lydia Ko (New Zealand), Lotte Championship winner Grace Kim (Australia), Brooke Henderson (Canada), and Ayaka Furue (Japan) are tied for fifth at 3-under-par 69.

For Korea, Yang Hee-young, Choi Woon-jung, and Jang Hyo-jun are tied for 12th place at 2-under-par 70, the highest ranking among Koreans. Ji Eun-hee and Kim Sei-young are tied for 26th at 1-under-par 71, followed by rookie Yoo Hae-ran tied for 40th at even par 72. Park Sung-hyun and Shin Ji-eun are tied for 55th, Lee Jeong-eun 6 and Kim In-kyung are tied for 67th at 2-over-par 74, Ahn Na-rin is tied for 79th at 3-over-par 75, and Kim Ah-rim finished tied for 109th at 6-over-par 78.