JIN YOUNG KO BATTLES JET LAG AND HEAT TO FINISH 3-OVER PAR ON FIRST DAY OF JEJU SAMDASU MASTERS

JEJU, South Korea (Yonhap) (Yonhap) – South Korean women’s golf world No. 2 Jin Young Ko had a disappointing first day of her return to the Korean Ladies Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour after a 22-month absence. Ko shot a 3-over-par 75 in the first round 바카라사이트 of the KLPGA Tour’s Jeju Samdasu Masters (purse: 1 billion won) at Blackstone Jeju (par 72, 6,626 yards) in Jeju City on Wednesday .She is nine shots off the lead with a 6-under 66.However, she is tied for 48th place as only 12 players out of 132 players shot under par. It was the first time a KLPGA Tour event was held at Blackstone Jeju, and many players struggled with the intense heat and winds of Jeju Island. Ko also had to deal with jet lag, having competed in the Amundi Evian Championship, a major on the Ladies Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour, in France last week .On the third hole (par-4), Ko hit her second shot to the side of the hole for a birdie, but missed a 3-on at the eighth hole (par-5) and a 4.2-meter par putt .Her 3.3-meter putt on the 11th (par-4) left the hole and she failed to hit the green with her regular shots on the 16th (par-3) and 17th (par-4).”I felt a little bit hot in the second half, so the ball and the hole cup kept moving,” said Ko after the match, “and even though I drank a lot of fluids, I was disappointed with my stamina.” “I didn’t stay in Korea for a long time, so I thought this could happen,” she said, adding, “I think I need to play well tomorrow.”Ko also talked about the physical strain he feels in his late 20s.”When you’re in your 30s, you don’t recover as well, and if you don’t warm up enough, your swing gets shorter,” he said, joking that “the pillow marks on your face don’t go away as quickly.” “When I’m having good luck, I’m getting bounces into the fairway and things are going well,” he said of his struggles since winning the Cognizant Founders Cup in May, “but now it’s like I’m getting bounced off a rock. “I think once I get past this period, I’ll be able to play as well as I have in the past,” he said, adding, “I’m hoping for another peak. “Leader So-young Lee carded six birdies without a bogey on the day .Lee, who started on the 10th hole, swept the front nine with four birdies before birdies on the first (par-5) and back nine (par-4).Lee, who has six career wins in even-numbered years, finished three strokes clear of the second-place group to overcome the “odd-numbered year jinx. Choi Ga-bin and Chung So-i followed Lee at 3-under par 69.Park Ji-young, the season’s leader in points, money and stroke average, finished tied for 20th at 1-over par 73 with three birdies and four bogeys. Park narrowly missed an eagle on the eighth hole (par-5) when her chip shot hit the flagstick and bounced away. Defending champion Ji Han-sol, who was in the same group, also hit the flagstick, creating an interesting scene. In the Rookie of the Year competition, Hwang Yoo-min had the last laugh .Hwang carded five birdies and three bogeys to finish in a tie for fourth place (2-under 70) with Park Hyun-kyung and Bae So-hyun. Bang Shin-sil and Kim Min-byul were tied for fifth at 5-over par 77.Jang Ha-na, who has been in a slump since last year, carded six bogeys and five double bogeys to shoot a 16-over 88 and miss the automatic cut after the first round. The KLPGA Tour stipulates that a player will be automatically cut if they are 16-over par or better after 18 holes in each round. Jang, who has 15 wins on 바카라사이트 the KLPGA Tour and four on the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour, has now missed the cut 14 times in 15 events this year, including five withdrawals.