Jeongeun Lee6 ties major record, shooting 10-under 61 at Evian Championship

Jeongeun Lee6 birdied her last two holes at the Amundi Evian Championship on Friday to shoot 10-under 61 and tie Hyo Joo Kim – who shot 61 in the first round of the 2014 Evian – for the lowest score ever shot in a major by a man or woman. 

Lee6 made 10 birdies and no bogeys, including four consecutive birdies on Nos. 6 through 9, with a chip-in birdie on No. 8.

Lee6 began her round one shot behind co-leaders Yealimi Noh and Pajaree Anannarukarn. She held a comfortable seven-shot lead after the morning wave was complete, at 15-under 127, breaking In Gee Chun’s lowest 36-hole major total – 129 at the 2016 Evian Championship – by two shots. She’s only six shots removed from Chun’s 72-hole major record, also at the ’16 Evian.

Full-field scores from The Amundi Evian Championship

“I try to keep it in the fairway and keep it on the green and I focused on putting speed. That’s it,” said Lee6, who won the U.S. Women’s Open in 2019 and is going for her second major title. “Major tournaments is more pressure and more, yeah, a little bit nervous. Course condition is a little bit tough. I’m going to focus on just swing rhythm and then not too much thinking on the course.”