South Korean Somi Lee has set a cracking tempo as Australia’s golf aces made encouraging begins to the LPGA Tour’s mega-money season-ending championship in Florida.
World quantity 4 Minjee Lee birdied the penultimate gap to match the 4-under-par 68s of Grace Kim and Steph Kyriacou as Tiburon Golf Membership got here below assault.
Solely 17 gamers within the elite 60-strong area for the $US11 million ($17.1 million) Tour Championship failed to interrupt par throughout the opening spherical in Naples.
With seven birdies and an eagle on the par-5 seventeenth gap, Lee took full benefit of the benign circumstances on Thursday (Friday AEST).
“It is an honour enjoying my first Tour Championship, and I do not suppose I used to be essentially able to be nervous about something,” the chief mentioned.
“I assumed to myself, ‘Regardless of the rating is or how I play, let’s simply sort of put together for subsequent yr’s season’.
“That sort of alleviated the stress in as we speak’s spherical to have the ability to get a greater rating.”
The 26-year-old gave her chasers hope with a bogey on the final as American Allisen Corpuz emerged as Lee’s closest pursuer, two pictures again after a first-round 66.
Defending champion and world primary Jeeno Thitikul is lurking ominously at 5-under, alongside Japan’s Nasa Hataoka and Korean pair Sei Younger Kim and Jin Hee Im.
However after coming into the primary spherical having totalled a neat 50-under on the course over the previous three years, the Thai famous person looms as soon as once more because the participant to beat regardless of carrying a proper wrist damage into her title defence.
“I do know we’re enjoying for $4 million cheques but it surely’s identical to nearly a bonus for me this yr to have the ability to play right here,” Thitikul mentioned.
“I’ve had a very good run for the yr, so nothing to consider that a lot.”
A month after teaming to win the celebrated Worldwide Crown occasion in Seoul, Aussies Lee, Kim and Kyriacou all sit in a nine-way tie for seventh, 4 strokes off the lead.
Already the season’s cash chief, Lee might greater than double her 2025 on-course earnings if she collects the report $US4 million ($6.21 million) winner’s cheque on Sunday.
The triple main winner made an inauspicious begin, bogeying the second gap, earlier than choosing up 5 birdies in an in any other case mistake-free spherical.
“Yeah, fairly strong day as we speak,” Lee mentioned.
“I used to be fairly regular all day, so nothing too loopy.
“However hopefully I can take the momentum from as we speak into the subsequent few days.”
With some nice scrambling, Kim and Kyriacou additionally each had 5 birdies and only one bogey of their rounds.
New Zealand’s world quantity 4 Lydia Ko opened with a 3-under 69, two higher than American world quantity two Nelly Korda, who stays winless in 2025 after saluting seven occasions final yr.
Hannah Inexperienced, the fourth member of Australia’s triumphant Worldwide Crown crew, is propping up the sphere following a horror 4-over 76, together with a double-bogey six on the final.
AAP
