Earlier in the week, world No. 3 Lydia Ko was talking about the high level of play this season on the LPGA Tour.
On Thursday, she was in a league of her own. She birdied four of the five closing holes at Tiburon and her seven-under par 65 was the best of the best on day one of the CME Tour Championship.
Ko bogeyed her first hole of the day but showed it’s not how you start — it’s how you finish and she was rock-solid the rest of the way, playing the final 17 holes in eight-under par.
Her eight birdies gave he a one-shot lead over American Danielle Kang and Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn, who played in 29 events this season. Kang has bounced back nicely after a tumor was discovered near her spine earlier this season.
There are plenty of big names lurking just off the lead.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda opened with a four-under par 68 that should have been a shot better. She had just 159 yards into the par five 17th for her second shot and it came up short of the green. She thinned her chip 10 feet past the hole and missed the birdie putt. “That ticked me off,” Korda said matter-of-factly after her round. Still, she’s in prime position to contend for the #2 million first place money — the biggest payoff in women’s golf.
Ko entered the season finale as the leader in the Rolex Player Of The Year race as well as the Vare Trophy. She won this event in 2014 and still owns the course record (62).
“The first four holes into the wind is a beast,” Ko said after he round. “It’s a beast without the wind. So I knew that if I could just hang on and just stay patient, there was going to be a lot of opportunities, and I was able to grab a lot of them in the back nine. So definitely nice to finish off that way.”
Not everyone handled the day as well as Ko.
World No. 2 Atthaya Thitikul signed for a one-over par 73 defending champion Jin Young Ko’s even par round of 72 left her tied for 35th.
Lexi Thompson’s two-over par 74 was her worst round in the last six years at this championship.
A cold front is expected to move south over the Florida peninsula and bring chilly air for Friday’s second round action.
CME Tour Championship Scoreboard:
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