LPGA Tour rookie Hae Ran Ryu opened with a flawless 7-under 64 to take the lead for the first in her career at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
“Before this tournament I go back to Korea and I'm practice a lot of shots with my coach,” said the South Korean player. “I got more confidence in my shot, and on the first round I made some more birdie chance. Before this tournament my putt is so bad. But, yeah, I change my putt, and, yeah, it's more better. I make some many more birdie for this first round.”
Ryu recorded seven birdies, including four in a row from the 14th. With a chance to extend her lead on 18, she missed her short birdie opportunity, settling for a par and just a one-shot lead.
Nine players are tied for second at 6-under. Japan's Yuka Saso, Lexi Thompson and Christina Kim from the USA, Malaysia's Kelly Tan, New Zealand's Lydia Ko, Australia's Hannah Green, Germany's Olivia Cowan, South Korea's Jenny Shin and Denmark's Nicole Broch Estrup.
For Saso, Thompson, Kim, Ko, Green, Tan and Estrup, 65 is their lowest round score of any round so far this season. This is Shin’s third opening round 65 of the year and it is Cowan’s second. Many of the players, including Saso, Cowan and Shin escaped the first-round bogey-free headed into Saturday.
“I still take the approach of it's one hole at a time, one shot at a time,” said Tan when asked about the difference preparing for a 72-hole tournament versus a 54-hole one. “Whether it's 54 or 72 holes I'm still trying to do my best every single shot. That's how I look at it. Yes, it does help when you get off to a good start after the first round and you don't feel like you're chasing too much. There is still a lot of golf to be played. I'm glad the way I played today and where I put myself, and I'm just going to keep playing aggressive. And with the course condition it's a little softer than the previous year and you could really just go and hit the number and know that the ball is going to sit or spin back a little bit. I think that also helped to give myself the confidence of hitting a little bit more clubs than what I presume I should hit.”
Last year’s champion, Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand finished T26 after her opening round 68 while sponsor invite and Rogers, Ark. native, Brooke Matthews, finished T26 after an opening round 68 that saw five carded birdies but a double bogey on No. 5 that kept her from further climbing the leaderboard.
