Defending champion Ji-hee Ji (37-Hanwha Q CELLS) got off to a great start in her quest to win the only match play event on the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour for the second consecutive year.
Ji-hee Kim defeated Matilda Kastren (FIN) by three shots with two holes remaining in the first round of the LPGA Tour’s Bank of Hope Match Play ($1.5 million purse) at Shadow Creek Golf Club (par 72, 6804 yards) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, on Friday (July 25).
Ji-hee Lee won this tournament last year for her sixth career LPGA Tour victory. At the time, she was 36 years and 16 days old, making her the oldest South Korean to ever win on the LPGA Tour.
Match play is different from stroke play in that it requires a lot of matches. The 64 players are grouped into four groups of four, and only the winner of the group advances to the round of 16. From there, a tournament format determines the winner. You need both stamina and concentration.
Ji Eun-hee took a two-hole lead after the first round when her opponent bogeyed the second (par-4).
Castren bogeyed the 12th (par-4) to widen the gap, but a bogey at the 14th (par-4) didn’t halt her momentum. She took the 15th (par-4) and closed out the match on the 16th.
With Lynn Grant (SWE) and Maddie Jurick (CAN) tied in the other match of the day, Jinhui moved to the top of the group.
She will face Jirik in the second round.
“I was lucky because my shot feeling wasn’t that good,” Ji-hee said after the match. “I think my opponent wasn’t feeling very good today either, so it was a little bit easier for me,” she added.
“Even if I didn’t feel good, I tried to protect it as much as possible and hit it confidently even when my opponent was following me,” he said. “There were a lot of difficult pin positions and I tried to take advantage of that.”
In the only Korean match of the day, Shin Ji-Eun (31-Hanwha Q CELLS) defeated An Na-Rin (27-Medihill) by three holes.메이저놀이터
Lee Jung-six (27-Daebang E&C) drew with Sophia Schubert (USA), while Kim Se-young (30-Medihill) lost to Jen Bei-yun (Chinese Taipei) by three strokes.
Kim Ah-rim (28-Hanwha Q CELLS) lost to Frida Sinnert (SWE) by three strokes and rookie Hae-ran Lee (22-DAOL Financial Group) lost to Lindsey Weaver-Wright (USA) by two strokes.
Meanwhile, world No. 1-3 Jin Young Ko (28-Solare), Nellie Koda (USA) and Lydia Ko (NZL) did not compete in the event.