by After good food, Lydia Ko plays well again in South Korea.
Ko scored a 5-under 67 in the opening round of the BMW Ladies Championship to finish in first place Three shots before the early lead at Seowon Valley Country Club.
Earlier this week, Ko treated some LPGA players and staff to a Korean BBQ dinner, continuing a tradition started by Chella Choi, who is currently on maternity leave.
“Yeah, Chella used to do that and gave a little bit of experience, I think, to the LPGA staff and some of the players that came over for that event,” Ko said. “You know… especially my thought behind it [since] I had such a grateful year with many positive aspects.
“I think one of the fortunate things for me is that I’ve gotten a lot of support from my competitors and players who play in the LPGA. As much as we want to play against each other and be the one who ends up at the top of the leaderboard every week, they have been super supportive and some of them are girls that I have only known for a very long time.”
Ko, who won this event in 2022, is seeking her third consecutive LPGA title. After winning Olympic gold – which qualified her for the LPGA Hall of Fame – she finished ninth at the Scottish Open, won the AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews and then won the Kroger Queen City Championship.
This is her first start since her win in Cincinnati.
Ko was nearly flawless on Thursday, making five birdies and no bogeys, finding all 14 fairways and hitting 17 of 18 regulation greens.
“I played really solid. “I haven’t really put myself in that many difficult situations,” she said. “You know, this is the type of golf course where, if you hit the ball well, you can create a lot of birdie opportunities. I think I did a good job of that.”
