LET: 2024 Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by PIF

In camel news, apparently the white one is worth $3M.

Round 1

Overall not a bad day considering the very windy conditions and the novelty of the course/greens for many of the Sisters.

Yu Jin Sung broke my heart today. She was 2 under with two to play and finished bogey-triple. She's now 8 back, but it's still early.

So Mi Lee is known as a good wind player and showed it again today. Even par is not fantastic, but given her small amount of experience playing desert courses, it's pretty darn good.

Min Byeol actually got some screen time (she and Amy were the only Sisters I saw). She wasn't giving herself a lot of good chances, although she did have a ~60 foot eagle try. 75 is not all that great, but considering she is used to tight courses with small greens, I'm guessing she almost never has to putt a 60+ footer at home. Also, she has a tendency to play progressively better as the week continues when she starts poorly, so I'm crossing my fingers that this will happen here also.

Surprisingly good day for Jeong Mi Hwang, +1. Jae Hee Kim really struggled on the back (she played that first) but was two under on the front. Jiyai's morning round of even par was fine, and Amy really looked solid with her 70, low Korean round of the day (and she lipped out a birdie on the 18th).

Scores:

1 Patty Tavatanakit 66 -6
2 Paula Reto 67 -5
T3 Nicole Broch Estrup, Manon De Roey 68 -4

Notables:
T8 Amy Yang 70 -2
T20 Jiyai Shin, Grace Kim, So Mi Lee 72 Even
T29 Jeong Mi Hwang 73 +1
T44 Jin Hee Im, Yu Jin Sung 74 +2
T57 Min Byeol Kim 75 +3
T66 Jae Hee Kim 76 +4
T82 Jung Min Hong 77 +5
T110 Gina Kim, Min Sun Kim 7 80 +8
T117 Muni He 83 +11

Some more pix

Any Yang



Min Byeol Kim practices



"I participated as a mid-term review of the performance of the Spring Training. Even if it's not an LPGA Tour event, I think it's going to be a great experience because there are a lot of top players." She is training in southern California with So Mi Lee among others.

So Mi Lee



Lee said, "I played in Jeddah last year, and it's just as windy here as Jeddah. Also, the rough is tough, and the course is long and narrow, so I think I have to be careful with my tee shots."

Also, Jae Hee Kim:

"I couldn't participate in the Jeddah tournament last year because I didn't meet the world ranking requirements, but this time I decided to participate," adding, "I wanted to test myself before the start of the KLPGA Tour. I also chose to participate in the LET to see and learn from the world-class players."

Yu Jin just had a hole-out for eagle and is currently five under for the day and at 3 under. Keep up the good work!!!

Min Byeol started the day with ten straight pars. She's still on the cut line; go Min Star!!

Round 2

A bit of a struggle for Jiyai today. There are still players on the course, but she is for the moment looking good to make the cut at +3. However, she has a long way to go to have a decent showing, and since she will play fewer big point events this year than Amy, she needs to take advantage when she's in an event like this. In almost every case where she has played internationally in the last year she has finished in the top five, so let's see if she can produce magic in the final two days.

Min Sun Kim 7 had a great 67 to move from last place to +3 and a probable made cut. Fantastic! Jae Hee Kim also played well (70) to make the cut.

Yu Jin Sung had a 67 going herself after her hole out for eagle, but two late bogies knocked her down to a 69 and -1 total. So Mi had back-to-back 72s and is, obviously, at Even. But Jin Hee Im had another 74 and will go home early. At least she's getting closer to making cuts. But she is the only Sister to miss the cut here if the cut line stays at +3.

Amy Yang is the one Sister still on the leaderboard: -4 total after a second 70. Min Byeol played a lot better today: a 70, +1 total, but more importantly, no bogies and two birdies. Now the job is make more putts and a fantastic round could be coming! She ended up beating or tying the two players she was paired with after being beaten by both on day one.

Hwaiting!

Scores:
1 Patty Tavatanakit -8 66-70
2 Nicole Broch Estrup -6 68-70
- Manon De Roey -6 68-70
4 Paula Reto -5 67- Hole 17
5 Peiyun Chien -4 70-70
- Amy Yang -4 70-70
- Leona Maguire -4 76-64

Notables:
17 Yujin Sung -1 74-69
28 So Mi Lee Par 72-72
36 Min Byeol Kim +1 75-70
- Jeong Mee Hwang +1 73-72
46 Jung Min Hong +2 77-69
- Jae Hee Kim +2 76-70
59 Min Sun Kim 7 +3 80-67
- Jiyai Shin +3 72-75
- Grace Kim +3 72-75

Likely Cut:
66 Jin Hee Im +4 74-74
100 Gina Kim +8 80-72
108 Ariya Jutanugarn +9 74-79
118 Muni He +15 83-76