Buick LPGA Championship opens

On October 9, Beijing time, the world women's golf officially entered Shanghai time! As one of the highest-level and most exciting women's golf events in Asia this year, the 2024 Buick LPGA Championship held a pre-match press conference and a launch ceremony at Shanghai Qizhong Garden Golf Club on Wednesday, officially opening the curtain of this highly anticipated annual golf event. The Buick LPGA Championship has a prize of up to 2.1 million US dollars. It is jointly certified by the Women's Professional Golf Tour (LPGA) of the United States and the China Women's Professional Golf Tour (CLPGA). As the first stop of the LPGA Asian Autumn Swing, this event brings together 81 outstanding female golfers from home and abroad, including 28 LPGA champions, 12 Grand Slam champions, many representatives of the new generation of players, and 20 players participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics from 14 countries and regions. They will fight for the Buick Goddess Trophy at Qizhong Garden, bringing a wonderful golf feast to the long-awaited fans. 

For more than 70 years, the LPGA Tour has been committed to promoting women's golf and has a wide influence around the world. Mollie Marcoux Samaan, president of the LPGA Tour, said in her speech: "I am very happy to come to Shanghai to witness the 2024 Buick LPGA Championship. This event not only brings a wonderful viewing experience to fans, but also helps young players realize their dreams. Next year, the LPGA Tour will celebrate its 75th anniversary. As a long-standing event, our TV broadcast covers 175 countries and regions in 7 continents. Players come from 35 countries and regions, and more than half of the top 100 players are from Asia, including the current world No. 4 Chinese player Ruoning Yin and Olympic bronze medalist Xi Yu Lin. This week at Qi Zhong Garden, we are proud that the power of golf brings everyone together, and we also look forward to the players bringing a wonderful game." As the founding partner of this world-class golf event, Buick's brand spirit of "progress, achievement, and generosity" has always been perfectly in line with the spirit of golf for more than half a century. For more than 20 years, the Buick brand has helped Chinese golf move forward in all aspects, including youth development, professional player support, amateur competitions, and top professional competitions. 

SAIC-GM Buick Marketing Department said: "As one of the world's top women's golf events, the Buick LPGA Championship has been successfully held for three sessions. On this tournament platform, by competing with the world's top players, the professional level of Chinese women's golf is rapidly improving, and our players have repeatedly achieved good results in international competitions. Last year, Buick Golf Ambassador Yu Liu tied for third place in the Buick LPGA Championship; this year's Buick LPGA will welcome Paris Olympic Women's Golf Bronze Medalist and Buick Golf Ambassador Xi Yu Lin and her partners, who will compete for the Buick Goddess Trophy. The outstanding performance of Buick Golf Ambassadors is not only a representative of the 66-year deep relationship between the Buick brand and golf, but also the fruit of Buick's full support for China's golf industry for 20 years. Golf is highly consistent with the elegant, breakthrough and enterprising spirit of the Buick brand, and complements each other."

Pre-match interviews with players

The 2024 Buick LPGA Championship has attracted outstanding players from all over the world. In addition to the five star players attending the press conference, the silver medalist of the Paris Olympic Golf, Esther Henseleit, a German player, Grand Slam champion Minjee Lee, and former world No. 1 Thai player Jeeno Thitikul will also appear. Xi Yu Lin, a Buick golf ambassador who won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics this summer, said at the press conference: "Buick is my longest-term partner and has been with me from the first Rio Olympics to now. I am very grateful for Buick's support. Similarly, I have also witnessed the continuous upgrading of Buick golf events to become LPGA-certified events. I am really honored to have been involved. Returning to my home court this week, I look forward to responding to everyone's encouragement and support with my best performance." Ruoning Yin was the best amateur player of the 2019 Buick LPGA Championship and has now become the new standard-bearer of Chinese golf. Ruoning Yin is also looking forward to this game: "I feel that my recent condition is better than the first half of the year, because this year is actually my first full season, and I am not used to playing so many games at the beginning of the year. In the first half of the year, I was not in a particularly good condition in terms of technology and mentality. In the second half of the year, I reduced the frequency of games and found my own rhythm. I had a good end to last week's game, and I look forward to presenting a wonderful game to the fans this week." 

The defending champion, Chinese-American player Yin Tianqi, defeated the world No. 1 Lilia Vu in the overtime at Qizhong Garden in Shanghai last year. At the press conference, Yin Tianqi said: "I still remember many moments of last year's Buick LPGA Championship. I am very happy to be back at Qizhong Garden and look forward to achieving good results again." Chinese-American player Rose Zhang was also the focus of the game. This season, she ended Nelly Korda's record-breaking six-game winning streak and won her second LPGA championship trophy. "I am very happy to be back in Shanghai again. This is a great city." Rose Zhang said: "This week I will face the Buick LPGA Championship with a relaxed mood, and I also look forward to the fans coming to the stadium to cheer me on." Grand Slam champion, Australian player Hannah Green is playing in the Buick LPGA Championship for the first time. This season, she has won 2 games and is ranked in the top ten in the world ranking and CME points ranking. "This is my first time in Shanghai. I am very happy to participate in the Buick LPGA Championship here. The distance of the Qi Zhong Garden course is relatively long for me, which will be a certain challenge. I returned to my hometown to rest for a while some time ago. I am very excited to return to the course this week and look forward to achieving good results." said Hannah Green.

Competition Introduction

The Buick LPGA Championship is an important international women's golf event, and its history can be traced back to 2018, when the event was upgraded to part of the LPGA. This event not only provides a platform for Chinese local players to compete with world-class masters, but also makes important contributions to promoting the talent reserve and popularization of golf in China. Since its inception in 2018, the number of Chinese mainland players participating in the Buick LPGA Championship has increased year by year, from 20 in 2018 to 24 in 2024, setting a new record for the event. The event has attracted global attention and focused on Shanghai. It is not only a golf event, but also a display platform for the improvement of Chinese women's golf strength. As part of the LPGA Tour, the Buick LPGA Championship follows the standard rules of the LPGA. The game is usually divided into four rounds, a total of 72 holes. There is no elimination line, and all participants will complete four rounds. The game uses a stroke play system, that is, the final score is determined by the total number of strokes in four rounds. In the event of a tie, the champion may be determined by a playoff. The event has attracted top female golfers including LPGA champions and Grand Slam champions. The total prize money of the tournament is as high as 2.1 million US dollars, showing its important position in women's golf events.

Match progress

On October 10, Beijing time, the first round of the 2024 Buick LPGA Championship kicked off. Sei Young Kim, the 12-time LPGA champion and Grand Slam champion, shot 62 at Shanghai Qizhong Garden Golf Club, 10 strokes under par, and took the lead with an excellent performance that set the record for the lowest score in a single round of the tournament. In the first round, Korean star Sei Young Kim scored a total of 9 birdies and 1 eagle, only 1 bogey, and led French player Celine Boutier by 2 strokes with a single round of -10. Chinese-American player Lucy Li shot 65 and ranked third with -7. The highly anticipated Chinese player Hannah Mulnee shot 66 and tied for fourth with -6, and Buick Golf Ambassador Xi Yu Lin tied for eighth with -5. This morning, Kim Sei Young teed off from the back nine holes and felt hot as soon as he went out, catching 5 birdies in a row. In the post-match interview, Sei Young Kim said that he played very well with irons on the first five holes, and his birdie putts were all between 3 and 5 feet. On the 17th hole, which was a par 5, Sei Young Kim accurately locked the flag with his iron-wood on the green and putted in an eagle from 3 feet. With another birdie on the 18th hole, Sei Young Kim topped the leaderboard with an amazing performance of 6 birdies, 1 eagle and 8-all at the end of the half. In the first nine holes, Sei Young Kim kept pars in the first five holes and lost a stroke on the 6th hole. Fortunately, Sei Young Kim birdied all the last three holes, and finally broke the single-round record of 63 set by Madelene Sagstrom last year with a single-round 62. Sei Young Kim won the LPGA-Blue Bay Masters in China in 2015 and has achieved good results in China from time to time for many years. "As a Korean player, I like China and Asian culture very much. People are very friendly to me here, and I feel comfortable competing. I think this is why I play very relaxed here and always achieve good results." 

Celine Boutier has also achieved great results in China, having won twice in China. In the first round, Celine Boutier performed perfectly, catching 8 birdies and not losing a single shot. "I played a lot of good shots today, and I was very close to the flag on several holes, especially when I made 6 birdies in a row at the turn, which felt great," said Celine Boutier. "Qi Zhong Garden is indeed a golf course where you can play low scores. As long as you keep hitting the fairway, you will definitely get a lot of opportunities. I am very happy that I can play a low round, but obviously there are still many unknown possibilities in the next three rounds." Lucy Li, a Chinese-American player, just won the runner-up in the last LPGA event. In the first round of the Buick LPGA Championship, she continued her excellent form, catching 8 birdies and only swallowing 1 bogey, and ranked third with a single round of -7. "It always feels different to come back to China to compete. I played well today and hope to continue my good form in the next game." The best Chinese player in the first round was Hannah Mulnee. This morning, when she was warming up at the driving range, she felt discomfort in her shoulder. The physical trainer advised her not to leave the court after physical therapy to avoid further injury, but Hannah Mulnee chose to insist on participating. Fortunately, Hannah Mulnee not only finished the game smoothly, but also shot a bogey-free 66, tied for fourth place with Chinese Taipei player Pei-Yun Chien, Irish player Leona Maguire, and Thai player Chanettee Wannasaen. "This is my fourth consecutive week of competition, so I am tired and not in very good shape, so I did not set too high expectations for myself at the beginning, but perhaps this made me take a relaxed attitude to deal with the competition." Hannah Mulnee said, "Although the fitness trainer suggested to withdraw, considering that there are not many opportunities to compete in China every year, and this week is a wild card invitation from Buick, so I also cherish this opportunity very much. As long as it is not serious enough to completely prevent me from competing, I will stick to it and hope to continue to bring good performance to everyone." Buick Golf Ambassador and Paris Olympic bronze medalist Xi Yu Lin shot 67 strokes, tied for 8th place with a single round of -5. "Today's results are not bad, which can be regarded as a good start." Xi Yu Lin said, "I am very familiar with this golf course, but this year I still need to adapt to the fairway better, and the yardage calculation of irons needs further adjustment. Today, I played smoothly in the front nine, and the approach to the green was relatively close to the flagpole. The back nine was a little dull. But overall, today's putting was still very powerful."

summarize

The game is still going on, let's continue to look forward to the players' performance. Wish them good luck!