Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Ryu Hae-ran and Ariya Jutanugarn shook off disappointing finishes in the Chevron Championship to start strong Thursday at the LPGA Black Desert Championship, where Ryu’s nine birdies gave her a one-stroke first-round lead. South Korea’s Ryu hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens in regulation and needed just 27 putts in her nine-under-par 63, which put her one stroke in front of Thailand’s Ariya and Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-Ling in the first LPGA event to be held in Utah since 1964.
Ryu had shared the 54-hole lead at the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the year, in Houston last week, but carded a final-round 76 and missed the five-woman playoff by two strokes. Ariya arrived at the 72nd hole on Sunday with a one-stroke lead, bogeyed, and fell in the playoff won by Japan’s Mao Saigo.
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Ryu said her mindset hadn’t changed at Black Desert in Ivins, Utah, where she opened with birdies at the 10th and 11th holes, added birdies at the 13th, 15th and 17th, then made four more birdies coming in. “I’m not changing something from my mind,” she said. “Last week it was so tough a golf course and this week it’s tough too. I was just thinking more accuracy for my shot — and I think the same as last week.”
Ryu said that she relied on her irons as she got to grips with a course that is “not too narrow, but it feels like it is because here are too many rocks in here.” She and Ariya both teed off early, and the Thai player said the lack of wind was a big benefit for morning starters. “This course, if the wind picks up, I think it can play pretty tough,” she said.
Ariya, who had eight birdies without a bogey, said she was trying to take the positives from last week as she tackled the “unique” layout near Zion National Park. “Of course, last week I didn’t finish the way I wanted, but it’s so many things going on, good things, and I just want to carry on from that and keep working as hard as I can,” she said.
Hsu was one of the few afternoon starters to make serious inroads on the leaderboard. She did it with an eagle and six birdies — including three to cap her round at the seventh, eighth and ninth. A group of six players, led by Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, were a further stroke back on 65, with another half dozen on 66. Saigo, who claimed her first major title on Sunday, shook off two early bogeys to post a two-under 70.
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