Naples: Lee So-mi is alone at the top of the leaderboard after the opening round at the season's final LPGA tournament. Lee shot an eight-under 64 to begin the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, on Thursday (local time). After posting the lowest round of her LPGA career, Lee leads Allisen Corpuz of the United States by two strokes.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee, who made seven birdies, one eagle, and one bogey, hit all 14 fairways and reached 16 greens in regulation while making 27 putts. Lee is one of nine South Koreans in the field of this exclusive tournament, open only to the top 60 players in the Race to CME Globe points rankings.
Lee teamed up with Im Jin-hee for their maiden LPGA title at the Dow Championship in June, and she will now try to become the only South Korean to win multiple titles in 2025. "It's an honor playing my first Tour Championship, and I don't think I was necessarily in a position to be nervous about anything," Lee said. "I thought to myself, whatever the score is or how I play, let's just kind of prepare for next year's season. I think that kind of alleviated the stress in today's round to be able to get a better score."
Im is tied for third place after shooting a five-under 67, and Kim Sei-young, who won this tournament in 2019, also carded a 67. The 72-hole, no-cut tournament has the largest share for the champion with US$4 million. The money leader entering this tournament, Minjee Lee of Australia, has earned just over $3.8 million so far.