Choi Hye-jin Tied for 6th; Yu Hae-ran Withdraws with Finger Ligament Pain

Maybank Championship: Choi Hyejin cruises at 5 under in Round 1
Nine career runner-up finishes; chance for her first win
Roussin-Bouchard leads, Yamashita second, Hull fourth

Choi Hye-jin got off to a solid start.

On October 29, she carded eight birdies and three bogeys in the first round of the LPGA Tour’s Asian swing event, the Maybank Championship, at the West Course of Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (par 72) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her 5-under 67 put her in a tie for sixth, three shots off the lead.

Choi Hyejin finished tied for sixth after the first round of the Maybank Championship. Provided by LET.

Choi has been enduring a long title drought. She has finished runner-up nine times on the LPGA Tour without a win. She has also finished second three times this year, including in her last two consecutive tournaments. At last year’s event, she led through three rounds before surrendering the trophy to Miyu Yamashita of Japan.

Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of France fired an 8-under 64 to take the top spot on the leaderboard. Yamashita carded a 7-under 65 to move into a tie for second with Sophia Schubert of the United States. Charley Hull of England and Perrine Delacour of France were tied for fourth at 6-under 66.

Hwang Yu-min was tied for sixth; Yang Hee-young and Kang Min-ji were tied for 12th at 4-under 68; Lee Mi-hyang and Ko Jin-young were tied for 21st at 3-under 69; Kim A-lim and Joo Su-bin were tied for 30th at 2-under 70; An Na-rin was tied for 39th at 1-under 71; and Lim Ji-hee finished the first round tied for 56th at 1-over 73.

Meanwhile, Yu Hae-ran, who tied for second with Choi at last week’s BMW Ladies Championship, withdrew due to pain in a finger ligament. As planned, Yu will skip the Toto Japan Classic and is expected to compete in The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge, which begins on November 13.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.