New Zealand’s Lydia Ko is atop the standings at the LPGA’s season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship, after hitting a seven-under 65 in the first round in Naples, Florida.
Lydia Ko, results
With three birdies on the front nine at Tiburon Golf Club and four more birdies down the stretch, Ko established a one-shot lead over Thailand’s Danielle Kang and Pajaree Anannarukarn.
Carlota Ciganda takes part in the tournament as the only Spanish. The Navarrese started in shared fifty-fourth place after finishing with three shots over par. She made two birdies and two bogeys, but a triple bogey on the par four of the 15th hole sank her in the standings.
Meanwhile, Ko got off to the best possible start in pursuit of several goals: the points ranking for the entire season that determines the Rolex Player of the Year, the biggest prize money of the entire season, and the Vare Trophy for the player with the most season points.
Ko started the week as one of four players mathematically eligible for Player of the Year, along with Korea’s Minjee Lee, Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul. Ko, a two-time tour winner in 2022, captured the CME Group Tour Championship in 2014 when she was just 17 years old.
Her only bogey of the day came on the par-5 first hole, which left her shaking her head. “I think after my bogey I was able to turn the bad trend around and turn it into a good day. There’s still a lot of golf left to play,” she Ko said.
For her part, Kang continued her star comeback after having a spinal tumor removed in June. She made a round without bogeys and with six birdies, four of them in the last nine holes. “I’m working hard on my short game,” Kang said.
“I have a putter change this week. It’s working out great,” she celebrated. Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh and South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim shot 5-under 67s to forge a tie for fourth place. Henderson, Nelly Korda, Sophia Schubert, Megan Khang, Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist and South Korea’s Sei Young Kim and Amy Yang are tied for sixth at 68-under.
Classification after the first round (par 72)
1. Lydia Ko (New Zealand) 65
2. Pajaree Anannarukarn (Thailand) 66
2. Danielle Kang (USA) 66
4. Gemma Dryburgh (Scotland) 67
4. Hyo Joo Kim (South Korea) 67
6. Anna Nordqvist (Sweden) 68
6.
Sophia Schubert (USA) 68
6. Amy Yang (South Korea) 68
6. Megan Khang (USA) 68
6. Sei Young Kim (South Korea) 68
6. Brooke Henderson (Canada) 68
6. Nelly Korda (USA) 68
…
54. Carlota Ciganda (Spain) 75
