Last Year's Rookie of the Year Yuhyeonjo Takes Top Spot on Leaderboard

5 Under Par in Blue Canyon Ladies Championship 2nd Round
A Perfect Play with 5 Birdies and No Bogeys
Yamashita and Li Shuying Compete for the Lead

Last year's Rookie of the Year, Yoo Hyun-jo, topped the leaderboard.

Yoo Hyun-jo is teeing off at the 11th hole during the second round of the Blue Canyon Ladies Championship. Photo by KLPGA

On the 14th, at the Blue Canyon Country Club (par 72, 6,550 yards) in Phuket, Thailand, during the second round of the 2025 KLPGA Tour season opener, the Blue Canyon Ladies Championship (total prize money $800,000), Yoo shot a 5-under-par 67 to rise to a tie for first place (9-under-par 135). Miyu Yamashita (Japan) and Li Shuying (China) also joined this group.

Starting from a tie for 11th place, Yoo made five birdies without any bogeys. The effect of her 50-day training camp in New Zealand over the winter showed. She revealed, "I focused on fitness and short game training and was satisfied, but when I returned to Korea, my shots were not going well, so I took a lesson the day before coming here and cried out of frustration and disappointment." She added, "My putting was good, and although there were some tee shot mistakes, I managed to maintain a good flow even in difficult situations."

Yoo Hyun-jo is a former amateur national team player who won a team silver medal and an individual bronze medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. She debuted on the KLPGA Tour last season and won the major KB Financial Star Championship in September, earning her the Rookie of the Year title.