MIAMI: South Korea’s Lee So-mi fired an eight-under par 64 to seize a two-stroke lead over American Allisen Corpuz after Thursday’s opening round of the LPGA Tour Championship.
Lee birdied seven of the first 15 holes and eagled the par-five 17th before a closing bogey at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
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“My tee shot and putter were the things I was focusing on and I really practiced them a lot. I think that was the foundation to my success today,” Lee said through a translator.
The $11 million event features 60 players who qualified during the season chasing the LPGA’s biggest prize of $4 million.
Top-ranked defending champion Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand shared third on 67 with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka and South Koreans Kim Sei-young and Im Jin-hee.
World number 50 Lee, a 26-year-old from Wando, won her first LPGA title in June at the Dow Championship pairs event alongside Im and shook off the nerves of her first Tour Championship.
“It’s an honor playing my first Tour Championship and I don’t think I was necessarily in a position to be nervous about anything,” Lee said.
