Home favourite Jutanugarn shares lead in Thailand

LPGA Tour
  • February 22, 2018

Local star Moriya Jutanugarn grabbed a share of the lead after the opening round of the Honda LPGA Thailand in Chonburi.

Moriya, the sister of former World No 1 Ariya, carded a bogey-free, six-under-par 66 at Siam Country Club Pattaya to share the lead with Americans Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda, and Australia's Minjee Lee.

The 23-year-old from Bangkok picked up two birdies prior to the turn and four more after to cap a highly successful day in her home country.

Jutanugarn has yet to capture her first LPGA title, but this would be the perfect place for her to do it.

"I had a good start today, it was better than I expected," said Jutanugarn. "I just rested this offseason and ate Thai food at home."

Thompson started like a house on fire, birdying the first and eagling the second to race to three under. A bogey followed at three, but two more birdies in the next four holes took her to four under after just seven holes. Seven pars followed before two more birdies at 15 and 18 saw her grab a share of the lead.

"I eagled the first hole and then birdied the second and it was great to get off to a good start," said Thompson. "This golf course is a lot of just hitting it in the fairway. Once you're there, it is also about the second shot."

The four leaders are one shot clear of a group of six players that includes Brooke Henderson, Amy Yang and Sung Hyun Park.

Moriya's sister Ariya is among those on four under, just two back – a group that includes Michelle Wie.

New Zealand's Lydia Ko opened with a solid 69 to leave herself three shots off the pace.

LPGA Tour

Comments

Latest

  • US Open

    Johnson still confident of lifting title

    Dustin Johnson still believes he is in a strong position to win the US Open, despite seeing his four-shot advantage wiped out.

  • US Open

    Finau and Berger profit from struggling leaders

    Tony Finau and Daniel Berger made the… var VUUKLE_EMOTE_SIZE = ""; VUUKLE_EMOTE_IFRAME = "" var EMOTE_TEXT = ["HAPPY","INDIFFERENT","AMUSED","EXCITED","ANGRY","SAD"] var VUUKLE_CONFIG = { apiKey: "bc9fd4eb-d7be-4d00-87ef-b570563b015f", articleId: "38171", tags: "Daniel Berger, Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau", author: "Simon Wilkes", // Lang wordpressSync: true, eventHandler: function (e) { console.log(e); if (e.eventType == 'wpSync') { jQuery.ajax({ type: 'POST', data: { "action": "save_comment_to_db", "comment_post_ID": e.comment_post_ID, "comment_author": e.comment_author, "comment_author_email": e.comment_author_email, "comment_author_url": e.comment_author_url, "comment_content": e.comment_content, "comment_type": e.comment_type, "comment_parent": e.comment_parent, "user_id": e.user_id, "comment_author_IP": e.comment_author_IP, "comment_agent": e.comment_agent, "comment_approved": e.comment_approved, "comment_date": e.comment_date, "comment_date_gmt": e.comment_date_gmt, "comment_karma": e.comment_karma }, url: "/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php", beforeSend: function () { }, success: function (data) { } }); } }, // Articles - recommendations in emotes and comments widget recommendationsWideImages: false, recommendationsProtocol: "http", globalRecommendations: false, // Colors darkMode: false, color: "108ee9", // By Widget comments: { hideRecommendedArticles: false, hideCommentInputBox: false, enabled: true, commentingClosed: false, maxChars: '3000', countToLoad: '5', toxicityLimit: '80', transliteration:{ language: 'en', enabledByDefault: false, }, customText: {}, }, emotes: { enabled: false, hideRecommendedArticles: false, size: '70', // icons size firstImg: '', firstName: 'HAPPY', secondImg: '', secondName: 'INDIFFERENT', thirdImg: '', thirdName: 'AMUSED', fourthImg: '', fourthName: 'EXCITED', fifthImg: '', fifthName:'ANGRY', sixthImg: '', sixthName: 'SAD', disable: [], customText: {}, }, powerbar: { enabled: true, defaultEmote: 1, customUrls: { facebook: '', google: '', twitter: '', linkedin: '', }, customText: {}, }, }; (function () { var d = document, s = d.createElement('script'); s.async = true; s.src = 'https://cdn.vuukle.com/platform.js'; (d.head || d.body).appendChild(s); })();

    Simon Wilkes
  • LPGA Tour

    Nordqvist and Pace surge into co-lead

    Anna Nordqvist and Lee-Anne Pace produced almost carbon copy rounds at the Meijer LPGA Classic to create a two-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard.

  • US Open

    Frustrated Mickelson explains decision to hit moving ball

    Phil Mickelson’s decision to deliberately hit a moving ball and incur a two-shot penalty??at the US Open on Saturday had everyone shaking their heads.

  • US Open

    Rory McIlroy: This year’s US Open has been a write-off

    After missing the cut at Shinnecock Hills on Friday, Rory McIlroy would just like to put his miserable US Open experience behind him.

  • US Open

    Rose and Poulter remain positive despite late US Open stumbles

    Justin Rose and Ian Poulter vowed to remain positive going into the weekend at the US Open despite trailing Dustin Johnson by five shots.

  • US Open

    Tiger Woods unhappy after missing US Open cut

    Tiger Woods missed the cut for only the third time at the US Open after enduring another miserable day at Shinnecock Hills.

  • US Open

    Dustin Johnson earns four-shot lead at Shinnecock Hills

    Dustin Johnson moved four shots clear at the US Open after challenger Ian Poulter fell away with a dreadful finish to his round.

  • US Open

    Tommy Fleetwood soars after posting lowest US Open round

    Tommy Fleetwood made a big surge up the leaderboard at the US Open after producing the lowest round of the tournament so far.

  • LPGA Tour

    So Yeon Ryu on course for first win of season

    So Yeon Ryu proved to be the master of the par fives at the Meijer LPGA Classic to create a slender lead in Michigan.