Thanks to a late string of four birdies, Haeran Ryu of South Korea seized the first-round lead at The Annika on Thursday at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla.
Ryu posted a 6-under-par 64 to start the tournament one stroke ahead of Australia’s Grace Kim. Jennifer Kupcho (4-under 66) is alone in third place.
Another stroke back at 3-under 67 are some big names: Charley Hull of England, Leona Maguire of Ireland, Somi Lee of South Korea and Mao Saigo of Japan.
Ryu may have surprised herself a bit with her low score.
“To be honest, I don’t like Florida because my score is not good at this city, but every year I just hope that I play well in this course and for that, and I’m so happy — yeah, that’s why I’m so happy to I get 64 today,” Ryu said.
Ryu’s three LPGA Tour titles have come across the map — in Arkansas, Massachusetts and Utah, respectively. The 24-year-old won the Black Desert Championship in May, helping her current No. 24 position in the Race for the CME Globe standings.
Ryu started her round on the back nine and played it in 2 under par. Her birdie streak began at the fourth hole and included three par-4 holes before being capped off at the par-5 seventh. She also hit all 14 fairways in regulation.
“I hit tee shot pretty well but today, I used … a lot 3-wood today, so that’s why I can keep it a lot fairway today,” Ryu said.
Kim had a breakthrough win this summer: her first major title at the Evian Championship in France. She’s also looking for the points boost that a high finish at The Annika would provide.
“I guess at the start of the year I was quite low with my self-confidence, and I still have times where I don’t think I’m good enough at times,” Kim said. “I’m quick to be negative internally. So seeing that even if it wasn’t my best stuff during the International Crown, I had my team to back me. Even if I was sick during Evian, I still had to get it done. Maybe I was not feeling my best, but I tried to give my 100% of all that I had.
“And trying to learn around that and, yeah, I guess that just build on my self-confidence. You don’t need your A-game and 100% to get it done.”
For Kupcho, five of her six birdies came on the back nine between Nos. 11 and 17.
“I think it was kind of just coming off the front nine was playing well and just kept hitting the ball well,” Kupcho said. “… Just having fun out there and just playing.”
Rose Zhang is part of a 10-golfer group tied at 2-under 68. Nelly Korda, the world’s No. 2 player, shot a 1-over 71 in her return from a self-imposed break to allow her neck injury to heal.
Kai Trump, an amateur and the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, is playing this week on a sponsor’s invite. The high school senior who’ll compete for Miami University next year sits in last place in the 108-golfer field after a 13-over-par 83.
“I was definitely more nervous than I expected, but I thought I hit a lot of great shots out there. I hit a lot of good shots just to the wrong spots,” Trump said. “And obviously being, you know, my first LPGA event, now I kind of know how it goes. I felt like a little out of order in the beginning, but I kind of got it going afterwards.
“Yeah, I mean, I learned a lot. It was amazing. I had a great time out there.”
