JTBC Classic 2022 R1

March 24-27
Aviara Golf Club, Carlsbad, California
$1,500,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko fired her 16th consecutive round in the 60s in the opening round of the JTBC Classic presented by Barbasol.

JTBC Classic 2022 R1

The Korean player's bogey-free 7-under 65 featured three consecutive birdies from the 7th. Ko hit 11 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens and needed just 29 putts. She was pleased with that number considering the tricky Poa annua putting surfaces. Ko led the Tour in greens in regulation heading into this week at 83.33%

“I'm just trying to hit 60s today. These greens are really tricky so I didn't expect good putting or to make a lot of putts on these greens but I made a lot of birdies today and had a bogey-free round. It's pretty good so far.”

JTBC Classic 2022 R1

Ko wanted to play this week to prepare for the year's first major next week. She is in form, having won her 13th career victory earlier this month at the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore, but still thinks her best golf is ahead of her.

“My mental game is strong right now. Swing and putting, not bad, but not good. Going to a major, there’s a lot of pressure on all the players, so we have to fight with nervous emotion. But my mental game is strong right now after Singapore. I'm doing well but many people say 2019 was my career high. But I think no, not yet. So in 2021, I played well, but not yet. It's not coming yet. Even this year, too. So I need to win more and I want to win more. But I have to focus on myself if I want to really get the wins.”

JTBC Classic 2022 R1

Nanna Koerstz Madsen, the most recent Rolex First-Time Winner, carded the lowest score of the afternoon wave, a 6-under 66 to sit in solo second. She needed only 25 putts in the opening round, her short game making up for her erratic driving on Thursday.

“I'm very pleased with the score. I think I only hit four fairways. I wasn’t really struggling off the tee, was just in the first cut, but on these greens sometimes it can be hard coming from the rough. I made some good putts out there, which I maybe wasn't expecting only having 25 putts today, but it was good.”

Three players are tied for third at 5-under with Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh, Republic of Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi and American Cheyenne Knight all carding 67s.

JTBC Classic 2022 R1