Lotte Championship R1

Lotte Championship 2021 R1
April 14-17
Kapolei Golf Club, Oahu, Hawaii
$2,000,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Lotte Championship 2021 R1

Brittany Altomare started on the back nine and made the turn 2-under par after two birdies and a bogey. She turned to her caddie Charlie Ryan for guidance on her putts on the first and second holes, and suddenly, the momentum kicked in. By the time she finished the day, she recorded a string of seven-consecutive birdies and carded an 8-under 64, tying Yuka Saso for the first-round lead.

Lotte Championship 2021 R1

“I try to stay one shot at a time, but towards the end I kind of realized (the streak), and then I chipped in on 7 and just started laughing. I’m just like, ‘just one of those days’, which was fun. Hasn’t happened in a while, so I was excited,” said Altomare, whose highest finish this season is T23 at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala.

This is the first time she can remember carding seven consecutive birdies, “even in practice,” said the 30-year-old. Her 64 ties her career-best 18 holes, last recorded in the second round at the 2016 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, where she finished T13. The streak ties the Tour’s second-best number for consecutive birdies, last done by Isi Gabsa at the 2019 Portland Classic. Jeongeun Lee and Nicole Broch Larsen are the last two players to record seven-straight birdies in the same round, both achieving the feat at the 2019 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.

Lotte Championship 2021 R1

“This week like I just really like the greens here. They’re smooth. I think when you putt where you want to, like it’s going to go there. Like there is no — it’s not bumping around or anything,” said Altomare. “I think if you’re putting well you can make a lot of putts out here.”

Altomare hopes to continue building on her successful first round by honing in on what’s been working for her. Just stay steady and consistent. My putter obviously feels really good. My coach and I have been working a lot on some things in my driver, and I’m finally starting to feel comfortable with it,” said Altomare. “So I think if I can just stay consistent off the tee and just kind of keep working on what we been working on.”

Lotte Championship 2021 R1

19-year old Saso, playing on a sponsor’s exemption, birdied five of her last six holes. She turned pro last November after earning her card on the Japan LPGA Tour and is currently third on the money list.

“It’s like Philippines but colder than Philippines and windier than Philippines” — lucky.

Lotte Championship 2021 R1

“I made some good putts, had good up and downs, my driving was very consistent today,” said Saso. “I think, yeah, that made me lucky.”

Nelly Korda shot a 65 to tie with So Yeon Ryu and Ally Ewing for third place.

Lotte Championship 2021 R1

Pos.	Player	To Par	R1
T1	Brittany Altomare	-8	64
T1	Yuka Saso *	-8	64
T3	Nelly Korda	-7	65
T3	So Yeon Ryu	-7	65
T3	Ally Ewing	-7	65
6	Stacy Lewis	-6	66
T7	Stephanie Meadow	-5	67
T7	Lydia Ko	-5	67
T7	Jessica Korda	-5	67
T7	Rose Zhang (a) *	-5	67
T7	Sei Young Kim	-5	67
T7	Wei-Ling Hsu	-5	67
T7	Mi Hyang Lee	-5	67
T14	In Gee Chun	-4	68
T14	Hinako Shibuno *	-4	68
T14	Nicole Broch Larsen	-4	68
T14	Brooke M. Henderson	-4	68
T14	Yu Liu	-4	68
T14	Brianna Do	-4	68
T14	Leona Maguire	-4	68
T14	Anne van Dam	-4	68
T14	Muni He	-4	68
T14	Danielle Kang	-4	68
T14	Hyo Joo Kim	-4	68
T14	Jennifer Kupcho	-4	68
T14	Lexi Thompson	-4	68
T27	Jeongeun Lee	-3	69
T27	Luna Sobron Galmes	-3	69
T27	Na Yeon Choi	-3	69
T27	Austin Ernst	-3	69
T27	Angela Stanford	-3	69
T27	Jeongeun Lee6	-3	69
T27	Azahara Munoz	-3	69
T27	Aditi Ashok	-3	69
T27	Klara Spilkova	-3	69
T27	Yealimi Noh	-3	69
T27	Sarah Schmelzel	-3	69
T27	Kyung Kim	-3	69
T27	Linnea Strom	-3	69
T27	Jenny Coleman	-3	69
T27	Katherine Kirk	-3	69
T27	Amy Olson	-3	69
T27	Jenny Shin	-3	69
T27	Amy Yang	-3	69
T27	Paula Reto #	-3	69
T27	Xiyu Lin	-3	69
T27	Haeji Kang	-3	69
T48	Tiffany Chan	-2	70
T48	Alison Lee	-2	70
T48	Gabriela Ruffels *	-2	70
T48	Chella Choi	-2	70
T48	A Lim Kim	-2	70
T48	Lindy Duncan	-2	70
T48	Haley Moore	-2	70
T48	Louise Ridderstrom	-2	70
T48	Sarah Burnham	-2	70
T48	Kristen Gillman	-2	70
T48	Hannah Green	-2	70
T48	Georgia Hall	-2	70
T48	Jillian Hollis	-2	70
T48	Maria Fernanda Torres	-2	70
T48	Ssu-Chia Cheng	-2	70
T48	Lauren Coughlin	-2	70
T48	Celine Herbin	-2	70
T65	Gerina Piller	-1	71
T65	Moriya Jutanugarn	-1	71
T65	Cheyenne Knight	-1	71
T65	Lizette Salas	-1	71
T65	Alena Sharp	-1	71
T65	Esther Henseleit	-1	71
T65	Pornanong Phatlum	-1	71
T65	Nuria Iturrioz	-1	71
T65	Perrine Delacour	-1	71
T65	Robynn Ree	-1	71
T65	Kendall Dye	-1	71
T65	Nasa Hataoka	-1	71
T65	Inbee Park	-1	71
T65	Minjee Lee	-1	71
T65	Maria Fassi	-1	71
T65	Matilda Castren	-1	71
T65	Mina Harigae	-1	71
T65	Jacqui Concolino	-1	71
T83	Haru Nomura	E	72
T83	Cydney Clanton	E	72
T83	Eun-Hee Ji	E	72
T83	Giulia Molinaro	E	72
T83	Lindsey Weaver	E	72
T83	Cheyenne Woods	E	72
T83	Pajaree Anannarukarn	E	72
T83	Ryann O’Toole	E	72
T83	Albane Valenzuela	E	72
T83	Mind Muangkhumsakul	E	72
T83	Anne-Catherine Tanguay	E	72
T83	Jennifer Chang	E	72
T83	Lee Lopez	E	72
T83	Kelly Tan	E	72
T97	Caroline Inglis	1	73
T97	Wichanee Meechai	1	73
T97	Youngin Chun	1	73
T97	Brittany Lang	1	73
T97	Jasmine Suwannapura	1	73
T97	Dana Finkelstein	1	73
T97	Lauren Kim	1	73
T97	Kim Metraux #	1	73
T97	Alana Uriell	1	73
T97	Cristie Kerr	1	73
T97	Su Oh	1	73
T97	Pernilla Lindberg	1	73
T97	Elizabeth Szokol	1	73
T97	Yui Kawamoto	1	73
T111	Marissa Steen	2	74
T111	Ariya Jutanugarn	2	74
T111	Caroline Masson	2	74
T111	Katherine Perry-Hamski	2	74
T111	Min Seo Kwak	2	74
T111	Jennifer Song	2	74
T111	Lauren Stephenson	2	74
T111	Ashleigh Buhai	2	74
T119	Jiwon Jeon	3	75
T119	Esther Lee	3	75
T119	Jing Yan	3	75
T119	Daniela Darquea	3	75
T119	Linnea Johansson	3	75
T119	Jaclyn Lee	3	75
T119	Sarah Jane Smith	3	75
T119	Liz Nagel	3	75
T119	Dottie Ardina	3	75
T119	Ayako Uehara	3	75
T119	Ana Belac *	3	75
T119	Andrea Lee	3	75
T131	Tiffany Joh	4	76
T131	Kim Kaufman	4	76
T131	Christina Kim	4	76
T131	Bianca Pagdanganan	4	76
T131	Yujeong Son	4	76
T131	Gemma Dryburgh	4	76
T137	Emma Talley	5	77
T137	Mo Martin	5	77
T137	Pavarisa Yoktuan	5	77
T137	Maia Schechter	5	77
T141	Mariah Stackhouse	6	78
T141	Suzuka Yamaguchi	6	78
T141	Min Lee	6	78
144	Yani Tseng	7	79
* Player started on the back nine