Choi Hye-jin 6 Under Par... Inruoning and Hataoka 9 Under Par Co-Leaders

Season Finale Tour Championship 1R Tied 5th
Minjee Lee 3rd, Hee Young Yang and Korda Tied 13th
Hyo Joo Kim and Haeran Yoo Tied 22nd, Jin Young Ko 41st

Choi Hye-jin showed strength on the first day of the final tournament of the 2023 season.

On the 16th (local time), at the Tiburon Golf Club Gold Course (par 72, 6,556 yards) in Naples, Florida, USA, she shot a 6-under 66 in the first round of the LPGA Tour CME Group Tour Championship (total prize money $7 million), tying for 5th place with Allison Lee (USA). World No. 2 Rin-ning (China) and Nasa Hataoka (Japan) share the lead (9-under 63), while Korean-Australian Lee Min-ji is in 3rd place (8-under 64).

Choi Hye-jin is teeing off at the 3rd hole of the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship. [Naples, USA=AFP·Yonhap News]

Choi Hye-jin made six birdies without any bogeys. After reducing two strokes with birdies on holes 1 and 7 in the front nine, she showed fierce finishing power with three consecutive birdies from holes 13 to 15, followed by a birdie on the 17th hole (par 5) in the back nine. She relied on precise shots, missing the fairway and green only once each. She is three strokes behind the joint leaders, in a position where a comeback victory is possible. Although Choi debuted on the LPGA Tour last year, she has yet to win. Her best individual result this year was a tie for 3rd place at the Buick LPGA Shanghai last month.

Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand), who leads in average score, is tied for 10th place (5-under 67), while Yang Hee-young and Nelly Korda (USA) are tied for 13th place (4-under 68), eyeing a rise in the rankings. Kim Hyo-joo, Yoo Hae-ran, and Kim A-rim are tied for 22nd place (3-under 69), and world No. 1 Lilia Vu (USA) is tied for 32nd place (2-under 70). Ko Jin-young, who injured her knee, is tied for 41st place (1-under 71).