(Photo credit score: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)
Hyo Joo Kim of South Korea carded eight birdies en path to a 7-under-par 64 and a two-stroke lead after the primary spherical Thursday of The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America.
Kim was sidetracked by one bogey on the par-3 eleventh gap on the par-71 Old American Golf Club in The Colony, a suburb of Dallas, Texas.
The 28-year-old — who has 5 profession LPGA Tour victories together with one main, the 2014 Evian Championship — greater than compensated with birdies at Nos. 2, 3, 6, 8 and 4 straight from 13 to 16.
Three gamers are two pictures again at 5 below: Yu-Sang Hou of Taiwan, Azahara Munoz of Spain and Sofia Garcia of Paraguay. Hou and Garcia had bogey-free rounds, whereas Munoz responded to a bogey at No. 1 with birdies at six of her subsequent 11 holes earlier than a bogey on the par-4 fifteenth and a birdie on the par-7 No. 17.
“I just hit my driver pretty good, hit lots of fairways, hit my irons good. Everything was kind of working,” Munoz stated.
Munoz stated in a single day rain did not have an effect on her after drier circumstances for observe rounds on the course earlier within the week.
“To be honest, it didn’t feel wet out there,” Munoz stated. “The greens have been nonetheless agency and so the factor that modified essentially the most right this moment was the wind. We’ve been taking part in with south wind and right this moment was north wind.
“It was kind of challenging. Off the tees was different lines, different clubs, but we I think we have our caddies, we trust them, and we have an amazing yardage book, so you just have to adjust.”
Defending champion Charley Hull of England is tied for 51st after a 1-over 72 that includes three bogeys and two birdies.
Sarah Kemp of Australia is tied for fifth with American Alex Marina at 4-under 67. She had two bogeys on the entrance 9 at Nos. 3 and 9 to make the flip at even-par 35, then went bogey-free on the again 9 with birdies at Nos. 10, 15, 16 and 17.
“You know, it’s a weird story,” she stated of her enchancment on the spherical progressed, noting she realized Thursday morning that paperwork was being processed to get a Japanese visa, and he or she and her caddie have been enthusiastic about it.
“We weren’t even talking about golf,” Kemp stated. “We were like, ‘OK, where are we going to go eat in Japan?’ So I think … the back nine like calmed down and it sort of kicked into gear. Really just not even thinking about golf on the front nine.”
Kemp stated quite a lot of golfers don’t love their conversations to be strictly in regards to the ongoing spherical.
“Like sometimes you can get really serious, so I think it’s important to switch off in between shots and have a good time out there,” she stated. “We’re out there for quite a while, so might as well enjoy it while we’re doing it.”
–Field Level Media