South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai carded a bogey-free, 9-under-par 63 on Thursday, and she shares the lead after the first round of the JM Eagle LA Championship in Los Angeles.
China’s Yan Liu is also at 63 after she opened with a bogey but later carded an eagle at El Caballero Country Club.
Sweden’s Frida Kinhult birdied the last three holes to claim third place at 64.
Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom, China’s Miranda Wang and South Korea’s Jeongeun Lee6, In Gee Chun and Jenny Shin are tied for fourth at 65, with another six players sharing ninth place at 66.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda is tied for 15th place at 67, and world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand is at 68, tied for 24th.
Buhai, beginning on the back nine, opened with a birdie and had her best stretch with three consecutive birdies at Nos. 15, 16 and 17. She had five birdies on the back nine, then four more on the front nine.
“Obviously any day you have a bogey-free round, that’s a good day,” Buhai said. “Yeah, was very patient, hit a lot of good shots. I mean, you have to hole a lot of good putts as well. But I felt the pins were in locations we could access them today as long as you use the slopes correctly.
“I feel that’s kind of what this course is like. If you hit it into the right bowls, you’ll get good results, otherwise you can short-side yourself very easily and it can’t be fun.”
Buhai, 35, is looking for her third LPGA win, having captured the 2022 AIG Women’s Open (a major) and the ShopRite LPGA Classic. This year, she has finished in the top 11 in three of her four previous starts.
Liu, 27, is seeking her first tour victory, and her best result this season was a tie for 44th at the Blue Bay LPGA.
She bogeyed the par-4 10th hole to start her round but bounced back with three birdies before holing a short eagle putt on the par-5 16th hole. She added five more birdies the rest of the way.
“I think today everything (has) been perfect, but not my driver,” Liu said. “But just little things. Right now my driver is a (giving) little too much fade, but I will figure out tomorrow.”
Two-time defending champion Hannah Green of Australia is tied for 44th at 69.
–Field Level Media
