England’s Charley Hull produced a career-low, 9-under-par 63 on Thursday to take the opening-round lead at the Ford Championship in Chandler, Ariz.
Following her bogey-free round at Whirlwind Golf Club’s Cattail Course, Hull sits one stroke ahead of Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen.
Amanda Doherty, Taiwan’s Peiyun Chien, Japan’s Minami Katsu and Canada’s Brooke M. Henderson are tied for third at 7 under with four South Koreans: Ina Yoon, Jin Hee Im, Mi Hyang Lee and Sei Young Kim.
Defending champion and world No. 1 Nelly Korda shot a 5-under 67, leaving her tied for 17th place.
Hull opened on the back nine and had four birdies at the turn. She then birdied Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and she added two more birdies. In all, she put the ball in 11 of 14 fairways and made the green in regulation on all 18 holes.
“I kind of tweaked my driver at the beginning of the week … and I really, really, really hit it well today,” said Hull, whose latest of two career LPGA wins came in 2022. “I felt like that put me in a lot of good positions. I putted pretty well. I chipped pretty well. I hit it pretty well with my iron shots. I don’t think I missed a green and didn’t really miss any fairways.
“I was hitting it good and felt confident. Just felt good out there.”
Koerstz Madsen matched Hull with nine birdies, but she carded one bogey, at the par-4 fifth hole.
“Stayed in fairways, so that made it a little easier,” said Koerstz Madsen, who tied the second-lowest score of her LPGA career. “I had a fun birdie on 10. I hit it in the bunker and … my bunker shot would definitely have gone 8 feet past, but it hit the flagstick and went straight in, so that was a good one. Other than that I made a couple good putts and some good, steady birdies.”
Korda was just 1 under par at the turn to start her title defense with two birdies and one bogey, but she ran off consecutive birdies at Nos. 12-14 and added another at No. 17.
She is coming off a six-week break since posting back-to-back top-10 results to start the season.
“When you take that much time off and you come back into competition, … you’re rusty, (you feel) a lot more nerves,” Korda said. “So happy with the way today went. Was a little slower on the front nine but fought back on the back nine. Hopefully can take that momentum into tomorrow.”
–Field Level Media
