Minjee Lee, Gabriela Ruffels and Steph Kyriacou have enjoyed solid opening rounds at the LPGA Tour’s Americas Open in New Jersey.
The three Australians shot four-under-par 68s at Liberty National Golf Club, with compatriots Hannah Green and Hira Naveed a further shot behind.
It could have been so much better for Lee, who dropped three strokes in her last four holes.
Kyriacou finished strong with four birdies in her last six while Ruffles was steady all day, enjoying four birdies in a bogey-free round.
They’re all chasing Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, who took only 26 putts, eight of them for birdie, in a clean start of eight-under 64 to lead by two shots.
Thitikul was bogey-free and had the advantage of playing in the morning with virtually no wind on the course across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
Celine Boutier (66) of France ran off five straight birdies in the middle of her round to join South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi and American Lindy Duncan, who lost in a five-way playoff at the Chevron Championship two weeks ago.
“I think my putter working well, better than Chevron week,” said world No.2 Thitikul, after her 11th round of 64 or lower over the last four seasons.
“I feel good when I see it drop but I feel bad when I see it miss … And I was like, ‘No, you can’t be like this.’ It’s in or it’s not. It has to be the same feelings and emotion.”
The group at 67 included Haeran Ryu of South Korea, coming off a victory last week at the Black Desert Championship in Utah that elevated her to No.5 in the world.
Nelly Korda, the defending champion and world No.1 who has yet to win this year, had six birdies — three of them on the par 5s — to account for a few bogeys on her front nine and finished in the group at 68.
“I know at the beginning of the year I had a lot to defend, but I think that instead of putting pressure on myself I should be happy that I was in that moment, that I did achieve all that great success,” Korda said.
“So just go out here and do what I love.”
With AAP.
