Hugel-Air Premia LA Open R1

LA Open 2021 R1
April 21-24
Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles, California
$1,500,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Jessica Korda carded eight birdies and a single bogey to take a one-stroke lead in the Hugel Air-Premia LA Open on Thursday and equalled the 7-under 64 record set in 2019 by Americans Megan Khang and Annie Park.

LA Open 2021 R1

“I was lucky enough that I was hitting the ball well last week (in Hawaii). I just wasn’t making any putts, and so I was kind of just taking that mentality into this week. Like if I can maybe drop some putts I can have a good round,” said Korda. “But out here it’s tough. This isn’t an easy golf course at all. I was lucky to be able to position myself in the right spots off the tee and take advantage of the short putts that I did have for birdie.”

LA Open 2021 R1

2018 champion Moriya Jutanugarn was 4-over through five holes, but played her final 13 holes at 10-under, including six consecutive birdies. The comeback 6-under 65 puts the 26-year-old Thai sensation in a tie for second with Tiffany Chan.

“I will say it’s pretty fun day today. It’s kind of really like a roller coaster. I started with double par, bogey, something like that on the first six holes,” said Jutanugarn. “I started to make some putts and then I had a lot more chance today because I hit it a lot more like closer. When I start to make a little bit more putts, then it’s kind of make me having a fun day.”

LA Open 2021 R1

Chan, a native of Hong Kong who spent two years in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, carded seven birdies, including four straight on holes 5-8, and hit 15 of 18 greens. Chan still considers Wilshire to be her home course, despite living full time in Las Vegas, and said that she felt that inside knowledge played to her advantage.

“My goal was to try not to be too aggressive because it’s my home course so I know the course really well,” said Chan. “So I still tried to be a little more conservative.”

Five players are tied for fourth at 5-under: Americans Dana Finkelstein, Nelly Korda and Austin Ernst; Australia’s Su Oh; and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda. Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko is tied for ninth at 4-under, while Minjee Lee, who is defending her 2019 LA Open title after the tournament was not conducted in 2020, opened with a 1-under 70 and is tied for 43rd.

LA Open 2021 R1

Pos.	Player	To Par	R1
1	Jessica Korda	-7	64
T2	Tiffany Chan	-6	65
T2	Moriya Jutanugarn	-6	65
T4	Dana Finkelstein	-5	66
T4	Su Oh	-5	66
T4	Carlota Ciganda	-5	66
T4	Austin Ernst	-5	66
T4	Nelly Korda	-5	66
T9	Alison Lee	-4	67
T9	Nanna Koerstz Madsen	-4	67
T9	Sophia Popov	-4	67
T9	Muni He	-4	67
T9	A Lim Kim	-4	67
T9	Sei Young Kim	-4	67
T9	Jin Young Ko	-4	67
T9	Ally Ewing	-4	67
T17	Jennifer Kupcho	-3	68
T17	Angela Stanford	-3	68
T17	Hannah Green	-3	68
T17	Jeongeun Lee6	-3	68
T17	Maria Fassi	-3	68
T17	Marina Alex	-3	68
T17	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	-3	68
T17	So Yeon Ryu	-3	68
T17	Sung Hyun Park	-3	68
T17	Inbee Park	-3	68
T17	Yealimi Noh	-3	68
T17	Morgan Pressel	-3	68
T17	Haeji Kang	-3	68
T17	Xiyu Lin	-3	68
T31	Lindsey Weaver	-2	69
T31	Azahara Munoz	-2	69
T31	Pornanong Phatlum	-2	69
T31	Brooke M. Henderson	-2	69
T31	Shanshan Feng	-2	69
T31	Christina Kim	-2	69
T31	Sarah Kemp	-2	69
T31	Esther Lee	-2	69
T31	Celine Boutier	-2	69
T31	Gaby Lopez	-2	69
T31	Leona Maguire	-2	69
T31	Ryann O’Toole	-2	69
T43	Sarah Burnham	-1	70
T43	Giulia Molinaro	-1	70
T43	Sarah Schmelzel	-1	70
T43	Mel Reid	-1	70
T43	Angel Yin	-1	70
T43	In Kyung Kim	-1	70
T43	Minjee Lee	-1	70
T43	Lexi Thompson	-1	70
T43	Michelle Wie West	-1	70
T43	Jennifer Chang	-1	70
T43	Jane Park	-1	70
T43	Aditi Ashok	-1	70
T43	Charley Hull	-1	70
T43	Gabriela Ruffels	-1	70
T57	Lauren Stephenson	E	71
T57	Ashleigh Buhai	E	71
T57	Amy Yang	E	71
T57	Na Yeon Choi	E	71
T57	Megan Khang	E	71
T57	Min Seo Kwak	E	71
T57	Pajaree Anannarukarn	E	71
T57	Marissa Steen	E	71
T57	Wichanee Meechai	E	71
T57	Gerina Piller	E	71
T57	Dani Holmqvist	E	71
T57	Lauren Kim	E	71
T57	Ariya Jutanugarn	E	71
T57	Anna Nordqvist	E	71
T57	Cristie Kerr	E	71
T57	Sarah Jane Smith	E	71
T57	Louise Ridderstrom	E	71
T74	Haru Nomura	1	72
T74	Jaye Marie Green	1	72
T74	Wei-Ling Hsu	1	72
T74	Elizabeth Szokol	1	72
T74	Brittany Altomare	1	72
T74	Lizette Salas	1	72
T74	Albane Valenzuela	1	72
T74	Mi Hyang Lee	1	72
T74	Annie Park	1	72
T74	Perrine Delacour	1	72
T74	Liz Nagel	1	72
T74	Ssu-Chia Cheng	1	72
T74	Chella Choi	1	72
T74	Brittany Lang	1	72
T74	Laura Davies	1	72
T74	Alena Sharp	1	72
T90	Lindy Duncan	2	73
T90	Stephanie Meadow	2	73
T90	Mina Harigae	2	73
T90	Pavarisa Yoktuan	2	73
T90	Matilda Castren	2	73
T90	Maria Fernanda Torres	2	73
T90	Madelene Sagstrom	2	73
T90	Mirim Lee	2	73
T90	Caroline Masson	2	73
T90	Mo Martin	2	73
T90	Anne van Dam	2	73
T90	Caroline Inglis	2	73
T90	Alana Uriell	2	73
T90	Pernilla Lindberg	2	73
T90	Kelly Tan	2	73
T105	Andrea Lee	3	74
T105	Katherine Perry-Hamski	3	74
T105	Hee Young Park	3	74
T105	Yu Liu	3	74
T105	Kristen Gillman	3	74
T105	Georgia Hall	3	74
T105	Emma Talley	3	74
T105	Katherine Kirk	3	74
T105	Robynn Ree	3	74
T114	Patty Tavatanakit	4	75
T114	Jiwon Jeon	4	75
T114	Tiffany Joh	4	75
T114	Yui Kawamoto	4	75
T114	Mind Muangkhumsakul	4	75
T114	Cydney Clanton	4	75
T114	Jasmine Suwannapura	4	75
T114	Amy Olson	4	75
T122	Mariah Stackhouse	5	76
T122	Ayako Uehara	5	76
T122	Jennifer Song	5	76
T122	Jeongeun Lee	5	76
T122	Linnea Strom	5	76
T122	Bethany Wu	5	76
T122	Jackie Stoelting	5	76
T129	Cheyenne Knight	6	77
T129	Jillian Hollis	6	77
T129	Haley Moore	6	77
T129	Jing Yan	6	77
T129	Jenny Coleman	6	77
T134	Lydia Ko	7	78
T134	Linnea Johansson	7	78
T134	Brianna Do	7	78
T137	Daniela Darquea	8	79
T137	Jaclyn Lee	8	79
T139	Yaeeun Hong	9	80
T139	Kim Kaufman	9	80
T139	Maia Schechter	9	80
142	Bronte Law	10	81
143	Suzuka Yamaguchi	15	86
	Jenny Shin	WD
	Yani Tseng	DQ