Seo Gyo-rim, Kim Min-sol battle for KLPGA supremacy

The rivalry between 2006-born peers Seo Gyo-rim and Kim Min-sol — two players competing for next-generation dominance on the KLPGA Tour — is heating up at the BC Card·Hankyung 48th KLPGA Championship, which carries a purse of 1.5 billion won ($1.08 million).

In the second round held Friday at Pocheon Hills Country Club (par 72) in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, Seo carded a 5-under-par 67 with six birdies and one bogey to reach a cumulative 7-under-par 137, sharing the lead with Song Eun-a. Seo sealed her co-leading position with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes, delivering a strong finish that lived up to her billing as one of the tournament's marquee draws.

Kim, who played in the same group as Seo, posted a bogey-free 2-under round with two birdies to sit at 6-under 138 in sole third place. Kim had dominated Thursday's first round with a 4-under effort to share second place, but the spotlight shifted to Seo on Friday.

Both players have recorded three wins apiece this season, sharing the top spot on the multiple-victories list. Seo leads in player-of-the-year points, while Kim tops the money rankings — a rivalry building into one of the tour's most compelling storylines.

Their playing styles also differ sharply. Seo, who won the Rookie of the Year award last year without a victory, is known for her high fairway-hit rate, precise iron play and conservative course management. Kim, by contrast, relies on explosive power off the tee for a more aggressive, high-impact game.

The rivalry took shape at the previous tournament, the Mediheal·Korea Ilbo Championship, where Seo stormed back with an 8-under final round to overturn a deficit and beat Kim by two strokes. This week's contest gives Kim a chance to avenge that defeat, while Seo has the opportunity to win in back-to-back weeks and pull ahead of Kim in the season wins standings.

Looking ahead to the third round, Seo said she planned to "play it safe on holes that need to be protected, and go aggressively after birdies on holes where attacking makes sense, since the pin positions will likely be tricky again tomorrow." Kim said she would "calmly analyze what mistakes were made today and refine my shots to a level I can control," adding that she would "focus on fixing the putting distance that came up a little short and sharpen my short game before the next round."

Song, who had surprised the field by taking the outright lead on day one, carded a 3-under 69 with four birdies and a bogey to share the top spot with Seo. Finding herself in contention among the tour's elite, Song said the situation felt unfamiliar since she had little experience finishing the stroke-play rounds near the top of the leaderboard, but added that she intended to "play calmly as usual, attack safely rather than force anything, and make steady par saves when trouble comes."

Moon Jeong-min turned in a standout bogey-free 5-under 67 with five birdies to reach a cumulative 5-under 139, joining Han Jin-seon and Lee Seung-yeon in a tie for fourth place.