Ji Han Sol continued to lead the World Ladies Championship after the weather-interrupted first round was completed at Mission Hills Resort Dongguan on Friday morning.
A four-under-par opening round of 68 in drizzly conditions over the Olazabal Course on Thursday gave the South Korean a one stroke lead ahead of compatriot Lee Jung Min and Lin Tzu-Chi of Chinese Taipei. Due to the delay, the second round will run into Saturday morning, after which there will be a cut to the leading 60 players and those tied before the third round.
The performance of 19-year-old Ji has boosted South Korea’s hopes of winning the title for a third year in succession after Park Inbee and Ryu So Yeon lifted the trophy at Mission Hills Haikou in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Although the tournament is primarily an individual strokeplay event, there is also a team competition running concurrently using the combined scores of the leading pairs from different countries, as well as a leading amateur prize.
South Koreans Lee and Ko Jin Young made a strong start in their attempt to build on Park and Ryu’s double team success by opening with a combined score of four-under-par 140, which gave them a three stroke lead over China’s Pan Yanhong and Lin Xiyu and the Chinese Taipei team of Lin and Kuo Ai-Chen. With an opening round of two-over-par 74, China’s Jin Man was the leading amateur in the field.
