Jin Young Ko’s incredible streak of consecutive rounds in the 60s came to a halt on Thursday, just one shy of owning the record outright.
Ko opened the BMW Ladies Championship in Busan, South Korea, with a one-under 71 and is tied for 42nd, seven strokes off the lead. Two weeks ago when she won the Cognizant Founders Cup she shot her 14th straight round in the 60s, tying the record held by Annika Sorenstam and So Yeon Ryu. She was going for 15 consecutive rounds on Thursday, but for now will have to settle for a share of the milestone.
“I think that this in itself is really meaningful, and really 14 consecutive rounds in the 60s is not easy,” Ko said. “I worked hard a lot, and also you need a bit of luck as well. So I gave it my best.”
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Ko, 26, didn’t make a birdie on the front nine and turned in one over. She birdied the 10th to get to even par, but her chance at a sub-70 round took a major hit when she failed to birdie the par-5 15th. She went birdie-bogey-birdie over the final three holes.
“It was raining. It was cold. So it was a tough round,” she said. “But I have to say I did my best. And maybe I think I didn’t do well, as much as I had expected, because when you play in Korea, there’s that extra bit in you that wants to do a little bit better, and there’s that extra bit of pressure as well. But I have to say I really did my best today, and I think I wrapped up the round nicely with a birdie.”
Ko, however, isn’t worried about the streak ending. With how she’s been playing — three wins in her last six starts — she knows she can get hot again.
“So I think that every hole counts, and if I just do what I did so far, then I go beyond 14 rounds in the 60s, and I think I can even break my own record,” she said. “So I think for me it’s important to just continue down this path and grow as a player.”
Na Rin An leads the BMW Ladies Championship at eight under. The rest of the tournament can be streamed on the NBC Sports App or on GolfChannel.com from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET on Thursday through Sunday morning. It will also be aired via tape delay on Golf from 6-10 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.