It has been 2,237 days since Sung Hyun Park lifted an LPGA Tour trophy. That being June 30, 2019 when she won the NW Arkansas Championship, her seventh win between 2017 and 2019. A stretch that also included two major championships and an LPGA Player of the Year Award.
Park has struggled really ever since 2020, where she took some time off during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also missed the entirety of 2024. Her last top-10 finish was at the 2019 AIG Women’s Open. She has fallen to No. 579 in the Rolex Rankings and has made just one cut in an individual start.
But, on Thursday in Portland, we saw some of that old school Sung Hyun Park magic. Playing alongside Danielle Kang, another player who has struggled in recent years but had a good showing today, Park marched to the top of the leaderboard, grabbing a share of the -7 lead when she finished.
Park went on a tear during her front nine, making five birdies between holes 2 and 7, with one bogey thrown in there. She added three more on the gentler start to the back nine to get down to a 65. Park hit 11 fairways, 15 greens and needed just 28 putts. For reference, Park is No. 130 in greens in regulation percentage on the LPGA Tour in 2025.
There are a host of intriguing storylines set up in the first round at The Standard Portland Classic, but this may just dwarf all them.
