Tag: Hee Jeong Lim

A flawless Hee Jeong Lim has extended her lead to four at the BMW Ladies Championship

After a third-round 65, Hee Jeong Lim is 18 under and four shots ahead of fellow South Koreans Jin Young Ko and Na Rin An.

It’s hard to catch a player who doesn’t make mistakes, and that’s exactly what’s allowed Hee Jeong Lim to begin pulling away at the BMW Ladies Championship. Lim, a South Korean player who has won four times on the KLPGA, hasn’t made a bogey yet in three rounds at Busan International in Busan, South Korea.

After a third-round 65, she’s 18 under and four shots ahead of her closest pursuers, fellow South Koreans Jin Young Ko and Na Rin An.

“I think recently there was an event where I had one bogey-free round. But three consecutive bogey-free rounds I think is a first time for me,” said Lim.

One thing contributing to Lim’s remarkable consistency is her accuracy. The 21-year-old missed her first fairway of the week on Saturday at the 11th hole.

“I wasn’t necessarily aware of the fact that that was the first fairway that I missed during this event. But I’m not really used to missing the fairway. I usually keep the fairway pretty well,” said Lim. “So being in the rough itself was a bit awkward I would have to say.”

Interestingly, Lim’s nickname on the KLPGA is “Stone Buddha,” which is a nod to the mental strength, resolve and calmness she displays on the course.

If Lim can hold on for another round, she’d become only the second non-member winner of the 2021 LPGA season, joining U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso from the Philippines. An would be in that same boat and both women would earn immediate LPGA tour membership from their win.

Ko, a former world No. 1, is not to be counted out, having won three times in the past four months. On the line for Ko, too, is a return to the top spot in the Rolex Rankings, a position currently occupied for Nelly Korda.

The top of the leaderboard is heavily occupied by South Koreans – not just Lim, An and Ko but also Hae Ran Ryu in the T4 position and In Gee Chun in the T-6 position – and the next win by a player from South Korea will be the 200th on tour. The vast majority of those victories (103 to be exact) came from 2010-2019. South Koreans have won 12 times since 2020.

Danielle Kang remains the highest American in the mix after rounds of 66-68-69 left her 13 under and tied for fourth with Ryu.

Notably, Minjee Lee, winner of six LPGA events including one major, is tied for sixth another shot back while American Alison Lee and Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn are tied for eighth at 11 under.

Another former world No. 1, Lydia Ko, is 9 under and tied for 12th.

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Hee Jeong Lim, Na Rin An set scoring record with 36-hole co-lead at BMW Ladies Championship

Co-leaders Hee Jeong Lim and Na Rin An, both winners on the KLPGA, are tied at 11-under 133 after 36 holes at the BMW Ladies Championship.

Danielle Kang is chasing closely at the BMW Ladies Championship, but the two women ahead of her already have knocked her name off the record books for the event at LPGA International Busan in South Korea. Co-leaders Hee Jeong Lim and Na Rin An, both winners on the KLPGA, are tied at 11-under 133 for 36 holes which is a new record score for the halfway point of this championship. Kang used to hold that record at 10 under, having reached that number after 36 holes of the inaugural event in 2019.

Remarkably, Lim hasn’t missed a fairway yet this week and is the only player in the field who doesn’t have a bogey on her card.

“I’m a player that needs to start off well. So I really focus on my first and second holes. And I think once you play well in your first two holes, then you’re at an ease for the following holes. So I think that worked well today,” said Lim, who finished the day with a 6-under 66. “And in terms of the course itself, I think we can get an opportunity to snatch many birdies here. So I tried to aim for that. So I tried to work on my shot.”

An, the first-round solo leader, had four birdies on her card in a second-round 69.

Both women remain in the running to set another record this week. Should any player from South Korea win, it would be the 200th LPGA victory for a South Korean player on tour. Two more women just down the leaderboard also remain in the running for that honor: two-time major champion In Gee Chun and former world No. 1 Jin Young Ko.

Ko’s streak of 14 consecutive rounds in the 60s came to an end in the first round, but she rebounded with authority by firing a bogey-free 8-under 64 on Friday.

“My friends and even my parents, you know, give me a lot of encouragement yesterday after my streak in the 60s came to an end,” Ko said. “And my mother was like, you know, oh, what is it that gives you such a hard time? Because I think that she felt so bad. She felt like I wasn’t enjoying the game and the tournament. But that wasn’t the case. But I feel like my mother knew me better than myself.”

As for Kang, who won the Buick LPGA Shanghai on the tour’s Asian Swing in 2018 and 2019, rounds of 66-68 have her in a tie for third with Chun, one shot behind the leaders. She credits part of her good play this week to swing coach Butch Harmon.

“I’ve been working on a lot of good things,” she said. “And I called Butch my fairy godfather today because he waved the wand and fixed something that I’ve been working on for a while. Guess it was more — there was a couple technical stuff that we discussed. I think it’s being open about what’s bothering you, how you felt on certain putts and shots.”

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