BUSAN, South Korea — Jin Young Ko couldn’t quite manage an LPGA Tour scoring record for consecutive rounds in the 60s, but her South Korean compatriots packed the leaderboard after the first round of the BMW Ladies Championship on Thursday.
Ko had 14 straight under-70 rounds, tying her with Annika Sorenstam (2005) and So Yeon Ryu (2015 to 2017) for the most in tour history, going into Thursday’s first round. But Ko finished with a 1-under 71 after a birdie on the 18th hole on the par-72, 6,726-yard LPGA International Busan course.
Ko was 7 strokes behind leader Na Rin An, who shot a 64. In Gee Chun and Ju Young Pak shot 65 and were tied for second. American Danielle Kang, whose father was born in Busan, shot a 66 and was in a group tied for fourth.
Defending champion Ha Na Jang, who won the Busan tournament after it was last played in 2019, shot a 74.
The Busan tournament is the only Asia event in the so-called fall season. The LPGA started out with a four-tournament Asia swing until tournaments in Shanghai, Japan and Taiwan were either canceled or removed from the schedule.
There are two tournaments left before the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Florida.