Elizabeth Szokol birdied her first five holes and seven of her first nine en route to an 8-under 63 and a share of the first-round lead on Friday at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, N.J.
Seeking her first solo title on the LPGA Tour, Szokol is joined atop the leaderboard by South Korea’s Ilhee Lee, who opened strong with three straight birdies on Nos. 3-5 and finished well with three birdies in a row to close her round at Bay Course at Seaview.
Akie Iwai of Japan sits two shots off the lead in third, finishing with a 6-under 65 after sinking six birdies on the front nine. Eight players are three shots off the lead at 5-under 66 — Gurleen Kaur, Taiwan’s Wei-Ling Hsu, the Netherlands’ Dewi Weber, Thailand’s Jaravee Boonchant, Germany’s Aline Krauter and Polly Mack and Japan’s Ayaka Furue and Saki Baba.
Szokol, whose lone LPGA Tour win came in 2023 at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational with playing partner Cheyenne Knight, ran into trouble on the par-4 No. 6 hole for her only bogey of the round. She added two birdies on the back nine and said afterward that she was trying not to think of her hot start to the round.
“I was trying to keep hitting good golf shots and rolling good putts,” said Szokol, whose best finish this season was T14 at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. “I think I did a pretty good job of that, which was fun. I just hit the ball great and gave myself a lot of good looks, so it was a great day.”
Playing in her 200th LPGA Tour event, Lee also posted nine birdies and one bogey as she attempts to win her second LPGA Tour title and first since the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic in 2013.
“I’ve been there so many times and ended up really bad a few times,” Lee said about her solid opening round. “I mean, it doesn’t matter. It’s just start. Birdie? Oh, that’s good. Next hole. Birdie? Oh, that’s good. Next hole.”
Iwai, who has yet to win on the LPGA Tour but has six wins on the LPGA of Japan Tour, also excelled on the front nine with six birdies, including three straight on Nos. 7-9. On the back nine, she landed one birdie and one bogey.
“I’m not really feeling like I’m on the verge of winning,” said Iwai, who has two second-place finishes this season on the LPGA Tour. “So there is still two more days of golf for this tournament and you never know what happens to golf. Yeah, just got to — never really know. That’s why you can’t say.”
Sweden’s Maja Stark, who won her first major last week at the U.S. Women’s Open, shot a 1-under 70 and is tied for 48th. After finishing in a tie for second last week, World No. 1 Nelly Korda is tied for 65th following a first-round 71.
–Field Level Media
