Australia's golf aces will have to play catch up to contend at the prestigious BMW Ladies Championship after failing to keep up on an opening day of scorching hot scoring in South Korea.

Sei Young Kim, one of 22 home hopes in the 78-player field, set a cracking pace with a 10-under-par 62 at the beautiful Pines Beach Golf Links on the Republic's windswept south-west coast on Thursday.

The LPGA Tour's 2020 player of the year and former major champion bagged eight birdies and an eagle in a flawless first round to grab a one-shot lead over fellow South Korean Korean Hyo Joo Kim.

"So this is near my home town, so I have lots of family, my cousins, a lot of fans. So I had a great start from the first hole and all the way through 18th hole, getting a lot of support," Kim said.

"The course is

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