12-time winner Sei Young Kim wasted no time making her presence known at Qizhong Garden Golf Club setting a pair of records, the 9-hole and 18-hole tournament scoring records. Kim shot a 28 on the back nine, beating the previous record of 30 set by defending champion Angel Yin in 2018 and last done by Madelene Sagstrom in 2023. Taking that momentum, Kim went on to set the new 18-hole scoring record, last done by Sagstrom in the fourth round of 2023 as well.

“After turn the nine hole I'm kind of, oh, I shoot 8-under. I never play like that, so I was a little bit of nervous,” Kim said about what she was thinking when she realized how well she was playing. “I don't know. Then I try to calm down but after that my body reaction a little bit like tight, and then after couple holes I keep par and after bogey one hole, and I realize, okay, I just keep going what I did is front nine, and I able to knock three birdies and strong finish.”

Starting on No. 10, Kim fired off five-straight birdies to catch up to the early leaders who teed off before her. An eagle on No. 17 and a final birdie on No. 18 helped propel her over those leaders and made the turn with a comfortable lead. Kim started the front with five pars before carding her first and only bogey of the day on No. 6 to give those below her a fighting chance to catch the 12-time Tour winner. Feeling the pressure, Kim found her groove again and ended her round with three-straight birdies, setting her lowest 18-hole opening round of her career and the new 18-hole tournament scoring record.

“Not really because I played the pro-am yesterday and I just enjoyed with the pro-am guest,” The major champion said about if she expected this today. “And then I can see the greens are a little softer than last couple years, so, yeah, I need more like aggressive play be better than like avoid the pin. Yeah, it worked. It was fun, to play like 8-under the front nine, yeah.”

Frenchwoman Celine Boutier is looking to win in China for the second week in a row after taking home her sixth Ladies European Tour victory at the Aramco Team Series – Shenzen. She helped her cause by going bogey-free with eight birdies including seven-straight from hole No. 9 to hole No. 14. Another player is trying to keep her momentum going in Shanghai with Lucy Li finding herself in solo third with eight birdies and a bogey in her opening round. Li is coming off a runner-up finish at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

“Yeah, I think definitely the time change and traveling, just the week ahead, it definitely helped me to fight the jet lag and just being able to get accustomed to the time zone and the temperature, everything around here,” Boutier said about if her win last week helped her in her opening round. “And then just having also a solid week last week has definitely helped feeling more confident this week.”

Four players find themselves tied for fourth including Team Europe Solheim Cup member Leona Maguire, 2024 Olympian Peiyun Chien, 2024 Dana Open champion Channettee Wannasaen and sponsor invite Muni He. Defending champion Yin is in the mix once again looking to be the second player to win back-to-back years at this event. She sit at 5-under T8 after the first round of play thanks to a bogey-free round.

Sei Young Kim Leads Packed Leaderboard After Day One at Buick LPGA Shanghai

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