Aramco Team Series: South Korea’s Ko Jin-young targets Hong Kong title to add to glittering CV
- Ko tops leader board with eight-under-par 65 at Hong Kong Golf Club as she hunts a place in the LPGA hall of fame
- Hong Kong’s Tiffany Chan in chasing pack and hoping for ‘more birdies for my family and friends’
Ko Jin-young has her eyes on a hall-of-fame career and adding another two or three majors to her collection, but this week in Hong Kong she is chasing “the honour” of a first win on the Ladies European Tour.
The South Korean got her bid to take the Aramco Team Series title off to a flawless start on Friday, carding an eight-under-par 65 at Hong Kong Golf Club.
Anne van Dam was alone in second on six under, with Spain’s Nuria Iturrios a shot further back in third on the individual leader board.
No stranger to success, the 28-year-old two-time major and LPGA money list winner Ko has an unconventional approach to what should become a storied career, and despite being known as one of the hardest workers in the women’s game, is not a big fan of warming up before a round, or practice in general at tournament time.
“Sometimes I don’t practise before the tee-off,” Ko said. “Just putting – but sometimes I don’t putt. I mean, in Hong Kong, it’s really hot. So I really wanted to keep my energy.”
Not that it seems to make much difference. Ko hit “about 20 balls” before her first round in Fanling, and then proceeded to find every fairway and miss the green only once on her way to a bogey-free day.
Ko’s score might have been better still, but she had a couple of putts that lipped out and a birdie chance on 14 that brushed past the edge of the hole.
The round contributed the bulk of her team’s combined 11-under total, leaving them five shots behind Van Dam’s group.
“If I could win, it’s going be [my] first win in LET, so it’s going to be an honour,” Ko said. “So that motivates me, and I have two more rounds to go, so, yeah, I will get some more birdies.
“But I want to get into the [LPGA] hall of fame. I have seven more points left. I need to get seven wins, or two or three majors. So it is my motivation. It is my lifelong goal.”
In a bunched leader board behind Ko, Hong Kong’s Tiffany Chan Tsz-ching was among a group of 10 players tied for ninth on two under.
Chan, who is in Muni He’s team this week, started on 11, birdied two of her first three holes and then played par golf until she reached the seventh.
Consecutive bogeys undid her previous good work, but she ended on a high with birdies at nine and 10. She admitted to being “a little nervous” on the first hole.
“I definitely have the home-course advantage,” Chan said. “I didn’t hit it as well as I have for the last couple of days, but to finish birdie, birdie was a really great way to end.
“I just want to have a good rest tonight, get the nerves away, go low the next two days – which I know I am capable of. I know the greens, I know the grass. Just hope I can play and have more birdies for my family and friends.”
Meghan MacLaren was also in that group six shots behind Ko, but let slip an opportunity to be in touching distance of Van Dam and Iturrios after dropping three shots in her closing two holes.
The Englishwoman has had an up-and-down season, and spent much of the summer working on her game with new coach Martin Park, who “deserves a lot of credit” for helping her turn things around.
“A bit of a kick in the guts, those last couple of holes, but I’m doing a lot of really good things,” MacLaren said. “Walking off the course when you’re frustrated, when you’re still in the top 10, is a much better place to be.”
