Alison Lee tied her career-low round on the LPGA Tour on Thursday at the BMW Ladies Championship, firing a bogey-free, 9-under 63 to sit one back of the early lead held by Ashleigh Buhai. Starting on the par-4 10th hole, the American got off to a fast start, making birdie on the first hole of the day. She parred the next three holes before rattling off three consecutive birdies on 14, 15 and 16 to move to 4-under and grabbed one more birdie on 18 to turn in 31. Lee remained at 5-under after she made three pars on holes 1, 2 and 3, but she hit the gas again on her final six holes, carding three straight birdies on Nos. 4, 5 and 6 and then making one last birdie on the par-5 8th hole to post at 9-under.
It’s the first time that Lee has turned in a 63 since the final round of the 2022 CPKC Women’s Open, and it’s only the third time she has ever done so on the LPGA Tour, also recording a 63 during the third round of the 2015 Cognizant Founders Cup. The 9-under 63 is also Lee’s lowest career first-round score, besting her previous benchmark of 65, which she last shot earlier this year on Thursday of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain. The 28-year-old was incredibly pleased with her effort on day one at the Seowon Hills course at Seowon Valley Country Club and hopes that her putter stays hot with 54 holes to play at the BMW Ladies Championship.
“I feel like my game is in a good place. I’m striking the ball really well. I feel really good about my swing. Just something that’s been lacking over the last year has been the putting, and so today, I was just making the putts I wanted to make. It was a lot of fun for me out there, being able to shoot 9-under,” said Lee, who hit 13 of 14 fairways and 18 of 18 greens in the first round. “I felt like I got in really the groove. The ball was going where I was aiming. I was hitting the numbers I wanted to. I was reading the greens well, which I haven’t been able to do all year.
“It almost makes me want to not stop the round and start on the second round right now because that’s how good I feel, no matter how tired I am. It’s just one of those days where everything kind of falls into place.”
This is Lee’s 21st event of the 2023 LPGA Tour season, and in her 20 previous starts, she has one withdrawal, has missed two cuts and has recorded four top-15 finishes, most notably tying for 11th at the AIG Women’s Open. This is her third appearance in the BMW Ladies Championship, and Lee has found the top 10 in both of her prior starts in the Republic of Korea, finishing solo ninth in 2021 and tying for 10th in 2022.
Lee is currently 58th in the Race to the CME Globe point standings, right on the bubble to make it into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. While she’s two spots inside the top-60 cutoff at the moment, the UCLA alum will need to kick things into high gear with just three regular-season events left on the calendar through which to qualify. So far this week at the BMW Ladies Championship, she’s off to a good start in securing one of those coveted spots in the field at Tiburon Golf Club, and with three rounds to play, Lee will try to ride off the positive momentum she generated in round one and will continue to feed off the good energy she feels playing in the country from which her family originates.
“I always feel good when I come over here,” Lee said. “I almost had my first win in Korea back when we played at Sky 72 (Golf Club). I got a top 10 last year. It just seems to be around this time of year (when) I feel like my game starts to come into place and fall into place. And my swing feels good. The key today for me was my putting. But I really like playing over here. I came to Korea a lot when I was younger. Both my parents were born in Korea. So, it’s nice to come here, eat kimchi every day, be able to have a lot of good food and a lot of good memories.”
Alison Lee tied her career-low round on the LPGA Tour on Thursday at the BMW Ladies Championship, firing a bogey-free, 9-under 63 to sit one back of the early lead held by Ashleigh Buhai. Starting on the par-4 10th hole, the American got off to a fast start, making birdie on the first hole of the day. She parred the next three holes before rattling off three consecutive birdies on 14, 15 and 16 to move to 4-under and grabbed one more birdie on 18 to turn in 31. Lee remained at 5-under after she made three pars on holes 1, 2 and 3, but she hit the gas again on her final six holes, carding three straight birdies on Nos. 4, 5 and 6 and then making one last birdie on the par-5 8th hole to post at 9-under.
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It’s the first time that Lee has turned in a 63 since the final round of the 2022 CPKC Women’s Open, and it’s only the third time she has ever done so on the LPGA Tour, also recording a 63 during the third round of the 2015 Cognizant Founders Cup. The 9-under 63 is also Lee’s lowest career first-round score, besting her previous benchmark of 65, which she last shot earlier this year on Thursday of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain. The 28-year-old was incredibly pleased with her effort on day one at the Seowon Hills course at Seowon Valley Country Club and hopes that her putter stays hot with 54 holes to play at the BMW Ladies Championship.
“I feel like my game is in a good place. I’m striking the ball really well. I feel really good about my swing. Just something that’s been lacking over the last year has been the putting, and so today, I was just making the putts I wanted to make. It was a lot of fun for me out there, being able to shoot 9-under,” said Lee, who hit 13 of 14 fairways and 18 of 18 greens in the first round. “I felt like I got in really the groove. The ball was going where I was aiming. I was hitting the numbers I wanted to. I was reading the greens well, which I haven’t been able to do all year.
“It almost makes me want to not stop the round and start on the second round right now because that’s how good I feel, no matter how tired I am. It’s just one of those days where everything kind of falls into place.”
This is Lee’s 21st event of the 2023 LPGA Tour season, and in her 20 previous starts, she has one withdrawal, has missed two cuts and has recorded four top-15 finishes, most notably tying for 11th at the AIG Women’s Open. This is her third appearance in the BMW Ladies Championship, and Lee has found the top 10 in both of her prior starts in the Republic of Korea, finishing solo ninth in 2021 and tying for 10th in 2022.
Lee is currently 58th in the Race to the CME Globe point standings, right on the bubble to make it into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. While she’s two spots inside the top-60 cutoff at the moment, the UCLA alum will need to kick things into high gear with just three regular-season events left on the calendar through which to qualify. So far this week at the BMW Ladies Championship, she’s off to a good start in securing one of those coveted spots in the field at Tiburón Golf Club, and with three rounds to play, Lee will try to ride off the positive momentum she generated in round one and will continue to feed off the good energy she feels playing in the country from which her family originates.
“I always feel good when I come over here,” Lee said. “I almost had my first win in Korea back when we played at Sky 72 (Golf Club). I got a top 10 last year. It just seems to be around this time of year (when) I feel like my game starts to come into place and fall into place. And my swing feels good. The key today for me was my putting. But I really like playing over here. I came to Korea a lot when I was younger. Both my parents were born in Korea. So, it’s nice to come here, eat kimchi every day, be able to have a lot of good food and a lot of good memories.”
Bogey-free, 9-under 63 💪 @alisonlee pic.twitter.com/MIO1ED8dnZ
— LPGA (@LPGA) October 19, 2023
