Patricie Mackova Leads by Two After Day One of Aramco Korea Championship

• Patricie Mackova leads the Aramco Korea Championship by two shots.
• Miyu Yamashita, Sarah Kemp, Olivia Cowan and Lily May Humphreys share second place.
• Mackova’s 65 equalled the New Korea Country Club course record set by Seojin Park in 2025.

A summer to forget is fading fast for Patricie Mackova.

The 25-year-old from Czechia opened the 2026 Aramco Korea Championship with a bogey-free, 7-under 65. That gives her a two-shot lead at New Korea Country Club in Seoul, equals the course record Seojin Park set in 2025, and is the lowest round of her career.

Mackova made seven birdies: on her second, third, eighth, ninth, 13th, 15th and 18th holes.

“I didn’t feel much special; I just hit my fairways and hit my greens and made myself a lot of opportunities for birdies. Some fell and some didn’t. I think I hit almost every green, maybe I missed two, so that was a help for the low score,” said Mackova.

“If you give yourself a lot of opportunities some [putts] will fall eventually and that’s what happened to me today. I hit a lot of pin positions and the putt on 9 was just a lucky one. It had good pace and I hope it would go in but that was not much about me.”

“I haven’t had the best season; I struggled all over the summer and I switched a couple of people around me and it worked,” she said. “I’m very happy that it worked because the results over the summer weren’t great, so I’m happy it’s working now.”

This week’s Ladies European Tour event carries a $2 million purse and has switched to 72 holes of individual strokeplay, dropping last year’s team competition.

Why was Mackova in green?

The Czech was dressed in green to raise awareness around sustainability. She, Sara Kouskova, Celina Sattelkau and Camille Chevalier belong to EcoAthletes, an organisation of athletes campaigning on environmental issues.

“We came up with the idea of wearing a green shirt on Thursdays this month,” she said. “I didn’t have a green shirt, but I found this [green dress].”

The inaugural Green Sports Month is running throughout October, with the aim of bringing the sports world together to help drive positive climate action 🌍 Camille, Celina, Sara and Patricie are EcoAthletes and across the month will be wearing green on Thursdays and taking part in a number of initiatives to help raise awareness. #LETSI

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) October 8, 2026

Yamashita leads the chasing pack

Four players sit tied second on 5-under. The headline name among them is Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, the 2025 AIG Women’s Open champion.

Starting on the 10th, Yamashita birdied her opening hole and then dropped her only shot of the day on the 12th. A birdie on 17 got her moving again. After the turn she made three in a row on the 2nd, 3d and 4th, then added another on the 7th for a 67.

“I didn’t feel good during this round, but after nine holes I was getting better and my putting was getting better so that’s why I could make that score,” said Yamashita.

She is fresh from Hawaii and admitted to some fatigue, but she knows the venue from last year’s International Crown. “This course is really similar to Japanese courses and last year I played International Crown here,” she said. “The greens are a little bit tricky with slopes, so putting is the key to make a good score.”

Kemp finds her range

Australia’s Sarah Kemp had a round of two distinct halves. Her front nine was all pars, including a fine save on the 9th. On the back nine she birdied the 10th and 13th, then ran off three straight birdies from the 15th to the 17th.

“I hit a terrible shot into nine, but maybe that got me going because I made a birdie on 10. I hit it close. I didn’t hole any long putts, I don’t think I made anything over 10 feet. I just hit some iron shots nice and close which was nice to see,” said Kemp.

“You have got to hit it pretty straight off the tee and I either hit hybrids or wedges. I am a better hybrid player than iron player and better at wedges, so far it’s probably suiting me as my distances have been fairly good,” she said. “It doesn’t look visually tight off the tee, but it can be in certain spots.”

Cowan solid, Humphreys spectacular

Germany’s Olivia Cowan also went bogey-free, with birdies on the 9th, 10th, 13th, 16th and 18th. She found the practice green misleading early on.

“The putting green felt a lot quicker than on the course, so we were all leaving a few putts short. I managed to roll a few nice ones on the back nine to get it going,” said Cowan. “I have played pretty well all year, so I’ve been quite happy with it. I can’t really complain, I know there’s a good one coming and I’ve just got to keep at it.”

England’s Lily May Humphreys took the more eventful route to 67. Her card showed five birdies, two bogeys and a holed wedge for eagle on the 13th.

“It was a perfect wedge shot, 105, landed it two feet short of the pin and a small little bounce into the hole,” said Humphreys, who also reckoned she “holed an insane amount of long putts”.

“The course doesn’t give you anything. You need to earn every birdie and some pars,” she said.

Kim in the mix again

A shot further back, five players share sixth place on 4-under: Korean duo Sung Hyun Park and Hyo Joo Kim, Hong Kong’s Ginnie Ding, Slovenia’s Ana Belac and Singapore’s Shannon Tan.

Kim is the name the leaders will be watching. The South Korean has won the last two editions at New Korea Country Club, and last year she closed with a 69 to beat Chiara Tamburlini by two.

Round two begins at 7am local time. The field will be cut to the top 60 professionals and ties at the end of the day.

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Three established courses, levada walks and a UNESCO-listed forest give visiting golfers plenty to build around a three-round passport costing from €310 per person.

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The Aramco Korea Championship Leaderboard