If you don’t recognize the first round leader at the Evian Championship, you’re not alone — Ayaka Furue is a rookie on the LPGA Tour looking for a first win and all she did on Thursday at the Evian Resort course was come within a shot of the tournament one-round record.
Furue shot an eight-under par 63 but she’s got some big names right in her rear view mirror.
World No. 3 Nelly Korda and No. 9 Brooke Henderson got off to really good starts on a day perfect for scoring. The two young stars both shot seven-under par 64s and they weren’t the only world-class players getting right in the hunt at the season’s next-to-last major.
World No.1 Jin Young Ko and No. 2 Lydia Ko were in with 66s.
One might think a major championship venue would present a bit more of a scoring challenge but birdies were the operative word of the day.
Thirty-eight players in the field broke 70 and another 28 were in at one-under par 70. All total, 83 players were in the clubhouse at even par of better.
As for Furue, she’s ranked No. 31 in the world and finished fourth in this championship last year. “I like the course, and with the good vibes from last year I thought I would play good,” she said. “I played very well today.”
Henderson started her day on the back nine and went bogey-free for 16 holes but at the par three 17th, she failed to get up and down from the long grass short of the fringe. She made up for that bogey at the par five ninth where she reached the green in two and sank a 38-footer for eagle to finished at seven-under. “I feel like ball striking I gave myself a lot of really great opportunities, which is always good, and then I was able to make some putts,” Henderson said after her round. “Any time that happens, you usually can go pretty low. This golf course, it can be so tricky. It plays really difficult. But sometimes when you make a bunch of birdies you can get momentum, and that’s kind of what happened today.”
Korda’s round was bogey-free but she failed to capitalize on two of the easiest holes on the course — the par five ninth and 18th.
American Cheyenne Knight shot the low round of her career — a six-under 65 to hold solo fourth.
Friday Update: Nelly Korda holed an eight-footer for birdie at the 17th then hit her second at the par five 18t within two feet for a closing eagle and a four-under par 67 that shot her into the early second round lead at 11-under par. First round leader Ayaka Furue fell back to earth with a one-over par 72 that dropped her back to seven-under through 36. Hyo Joo Kim, Carlota Ciganda and Perrine Delacore from the host country were finished at eight-under. So Yeon Ryu was out in the afternoon and went on a front-nine tear. She was six-under for that nine and 10-under for the tournament. Brooke Henderson also went out in the afternoon wave. She was two-under at the turn and nine-under for the tournament.
World Golf Hall Of Fame Heads Back To Pinehurst:
One of the worst-kept secrets in golf is the World Golf Hall of Fame’s relocation from St. Augustine back to Pinehurst, where it first opened in 1974.
It stayed in Pinehurst until 1983 was transferred to the PGA of America. It moved in 1998 to its current facility in St. Augustine. The World Golf Hall of Fame’s St. Augustine location will close in late 2023 at the conclusion of its long-term lease of the property.
The new Hall will be overseen by the USGA.
The USGA broke ground on its six-acre Golf House Pinehurst campus last month, located on Carolina Vista Drive on the Pinehurst Resort & C.C. property. It is the latest commitment by the USGA to enhance the region’s stature as the “Home of American Golf” and to more deeply invest in North Carolina.
