Park Min-ji, 25, who is attempting to win her third consecutive tournament, moved into a share of the lead on the second day of the Celltrion Queens Masters on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour.
Park made five birdies in the second round of the tournament on Tuesday at Seorhae One Wonder Legend Course (Par 72) in Yangyang-gun,안전놀이터 Gangwon-do Province, with no bogeys until the 16th hole, when play was suspended due to severe weather caused by lightning, to share the lead with Park Joo-young (33) at 10-under par. Park will play her final round at 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 11.
Park has been playing solidly since the first round the day before, making 10 birdies and no bogeys through 34 holes to improve her chances of breaking the record. If Park wins for the third consecutive year, she will become the fifth player in KLPGA Tour history to win three consecutive titles in a single event, joining the late Koo Ok-hee (1982), Park Se-ri (1997), Kang Soo-yeon (2002) and Kim Hae-rim (2018).
Park, who carded five birdies and no bogeys to finish with a 5-under 67, will attempt to go ‘265 for 266’. Park, who made her KLPGA Tour debut in 2010, has played in 265 tournaments and finished runner-up four times without a win.
Park, who started playing golf after following her older sister, Hee-young Park, who plays on the LPGA Tour, had to put down her clubs after giving birth to her son in September last year. However, she returned to the game in April and maintained her good form to win her first title.
“I’m not going to focus on the results, I’m just going to focus on each shot,” said Park, who had come close to winning several times before her marriage. “People around me tell me to be ambitious, but I’m secretly ambitious and greedy. Tomorrow, I will try to use all the energy I have left.”
Jung Yun-ji, 23, carded nine birdies (one bogey) for a course-record 8-under 64 to finish at 7-under 137 and share a group of three with Kim Soo-ji, 27, Lee Ye-won, 20, and Kim Soo-bin, 30. Jung Yoon-ji, who broke the previous course record of 65 set by Park Min-ji in the first round of this event last year, received a 3 million won accommodation voucher to Seohae-won as a consolation prize.
Bang Shin-sil (19), who won her first title at the E1 Charity Open two weeks ago, had a disappointing performance. She made just two birdies and five bogeys to finish tied for 51st at 1-over-par 145 and will miss the cut by a hair.
