Four Tied At The Top in Thailand
There would be no better place for Moriya Jutanugarn to stamp her first win on the LPGA Tour. The native of Thailand turned in a bogey-free 6-under, 66 to share the opening round lead with Lexi Thompson, Minjee Lee and Jessica Korda. Jutanugarn will try to become the first player from Thailand to win the Honda LPGA Thailand.
"I had a good start today, it was better than I expected," said Jutanugarn. "I just rested this offseason and ate Thai food at home."
While Siam Country Club is not a course she plays or practices at often while home, she is very comfortable around the track. Plus, she has plenty of friends and family members out watching this week. Moriya finished seventh in Thailand last year.
The expectations are sky high for Moriya this year after a career year in 2017 that saw her collect 11 top 10 results.
It seems to be a matter of when, not if Lexi Thompson climbs to world No. 1 in the world. It may come sooner rather than later for the current world No. 4, who turned in an opening round 66 at Siam Country Club in Thailand.
"I eagled the first hole and then birdied the second and it was great to get off to a good start," said Thompson. "This golf course is a lot of just hitting it in the fairway. Once you're there, it is also about the second shot."
Thompson was very happy with her putter, she needed just 28 on the day. She closed her round with birdies on 15 and 18.
The 23-year-old has always performed well in Thailand. She won in 2016 and finished in a tie for fourth last year.
One of Minjee Lee’s goals in 2018 is to climb into the top 10 in the world. She took another step towards accomplishing that goal with a 6-under, 66 on Thursday. Lee made back-to-back birdies to open her inward nine and tallied birdies on 13 and 15 before a three on the par-5 18th to post a 31 final nine.
Lee capped her brilliant round with a 45-foot birdie on the 18th.
“I hit it really solid today,” said Lee. “I hit a lot of solid putts so I’m pretty happy with today.”
Lee, who won the Oates Vic Open on the LET to start her year, finished in a tie for fifth last week at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.
"I think I just felt a little bit more fresh and more ready to go,” said Lee. "I actually wanted to play, and so I decided to play like the three events prior to this week.”
Lee’s putter was the key to the round. In addition to the 45-foot eagle on 18, she also drained a 50-footer for birdie on 11.
Jessica Korda, who was returning from offseason jaw surgery, had one of the shots of the day when her ball came three rotations short of a hole-in-one on number 16. She made birdie on 16 and then finished eagle-birdie to get into a share of the lead. Korda has not won since the 2015 season.
"It's nice, it's really, really nice," said Korda about her start. "Definitely a lot of rest, but it's just nice to be out there and be able to hit the shots again. I had a strong finish last year, and just kind of cap that off and then start today it's pretty nice. Started with an eagle, too, and I was like, damn."
Two-time Honda LPGA Thailand champion Amy Yang is in a logjam for second place at 5-under, 67. Yang won in Thailand in 2015 and 2017. World No. 2 Sung Hyun Park, making her season debut, is also amongst the group at 5-under. She closed with a birdie on 18.
There are six players in a tie for second at 5-under and Michelle Wie is one of five in a tie for 11th at 4-under, 68.
Henderson Rebounds with 67 After Missed Cut
Brooke Henderson missed the cut for just the fifth time in her LPGA career last week in Australia. She rebounded very nicely with a 5-under, 67 and is in a share of second place.
Henderson got off to a great start with five birdies over her first eight holes.
"Yeah, it was a really great start," said Henderson. "I felt good, especially coming out of last week. I was happy to get a lot of birdies right out of the gate and feel comfortable again. Unfortunately, I gave two back, but I was able to fight pretty hard on the back nine and finish at 5-under."
After making bogeys on nine and ten, she made two lengthy putts on the back nine to erase the mistakes. On the 12th, she rolled in a 15 footer for birdie and then made a nifty right to left birdie on 15.
"I've been working with Brit a lot just trying to get my swing back to where it was at the beginning of the year, which is only a few weeks ago. A lot of things can happen pretty quickly, but we've been able to get it back."
A few months ago, Henderson said she was shoveling snow back home in Canada. She didn't seem to have any issue adjusting to the extreme heat in Thailand.
"Yeah, it is really hot. Fortunately this morning there was a lot of cloud cover, which really helps. Brit and I were starting to pound back the water and just trying to eat as much as we can just so we stay healthy out here."
Lincicome’s Putter Remains Hot
Brittany Lincicome picked up her eighth career win on the LPGA at the Bahamas in large part because of her putter. After taking a few weeks off after the triumph, the putter remained hot as she posted a 5-under, 67 to open in Thailand.
“I drove it well, it’s nice being a longer hitter on this course,” explained Lincicome. “I had 27 putts, which was key. I felt like my game was pretty spectacular.”
Lincicome started her day with birdies on holes one and two. She closed her round with birdies on holes 15 and 17, where she nearly holed out from the fairway.
The Floridian hasn’t always fared well in Thailand outside of her 13th place finish last year, but she feels well rested and certainly knows how to handle the steamy conditions.
“Same old, same old,” said Lincicome regarding her preparation during off weeks. “I went fishing most days and enjoyed the down time. Today, I applied lots of sunscreen and lots of Pedialyte. Definitely carrying the umbrella because it’s really hot.”
Lincicome hasn't won multiple times in a single-season since 2011.
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