Choi Hye-jin, the "King of Nothing," took the lead in the first round of the U.S. LPGA Tour's Standard Portland Classic and knocked on the door again for her first win.

Choi Hye-jin posted a 6-under 66 in the first round of the tournament held at the Edgewater Country Club (par 72) in Portland, Oregon on the 14th (Korea time), tying for second place after the lone leader, Maryle Galdiano (USA, 7-under 65). Choi Hye-jin, who made her LPGA Tour debut in 2022, finished second in 141 competitions in five seasons, and failed to win the title terribly. He earned a total of $7075,483 in prize money, and has been called the "King of Nothing" because he won the most prize money among the winning-free players.

This season, Choi Hye-jin participated in 17 competitions and was satisfied with the top 10 four times, finishing second with Kim Hyo-joo in the Dow Championship.

First of all, Choi Hye-jin started off smoothly with a sharp shot that missed the fairway and green only three times on the first day of the Portland Classic. He grabbed seven birdies and blocked only one bogey, including birdie marches in four consecutive holes at holes 13-16. Earlier, Choi Hye-jin tied for 19th place in 2022 when she entered the LPGA Tour, which was her personal best performance in the tournament.

Choi Hye-jin said after the game, "I didn't feel that my shot sense was that good, but it helped me a lot by putting it on the fast green for the first time in a long time," adding, "I think it's going well overall."

Yoo Hae-ran, who won two consecutive major championships this season, also started the first round of the tournament in a good mood.

Yoo Hae-ran tied for ninth with a 5-under 67 with five birdies without a bogey. Yoo Hae-ran, who is ranked second after Nelly Korda of the U.S. in major individual titles such as Player of the Year (162 points) and average pars (69.51 pars), faced a great opportunity to close the gap with Korda, who did not attend the tournament.

Hwang Yoo-min (319 points) and Yoo Hae-ran tied for ninth place in this year's Rookie of the Year points, creating her second LPGA Tour Top 10 opportunity this season.

[Reporter Kim Jihan]