South Korea’s Hae Ran Ryu made five birdies in a six-hole stretch to rush out to the first-round lead at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on Friday in Rogers, Ark.
Ryu shot a 7-under 64 at Pinnacle Country Club, with a group of nine players one stroke back at 65.
Ryu, 22, is a rookie on the LPGA Tour and has five top-10 finishes this season while searching for her first career victory.
“Before this tournament I go back to Korea and I’m practice a lot of shots with my coach,” Ryu said. “I got more confidence in my shot, and on the first round I made some more birdie chance.”
She stayed bogey-free on Friday to kick off the 54-hole event. After shooting 2-under on the front nine, Ryu’s big break started with a birdie at the par-4 12th hole. She proceeded to string together four more at Nos. 14-17, two of which were par-3 holes.
“Before this tournament my putt is so bad,” Ryu said, laughing. “But, yeah, I change my putt … I make (so) many more birdie for this first round.”
Lexi Thompson headlined the nine-way tie for second. The LPGA veteran was 7 under through 16 holes but carded her lone bogey at her penultimate hole, the par-4 eighth.
Thompson is seeking her first win on tour since June 2019.
“We had perfect weather out there, so I just tried to take last week into today and just fully commit to every shot that I had out there,” Thompson said.
Thompson was playing just days after returning home from Spain, where Europe retained the Solheim Cup after tying 14-14 with Thompson’s U.S. team.
“It’s the highest honor, and to be able to pull off some good shots and make some putts for my country,” Thompson said. “There is absolutely no better feeling.”
Also tied for second were Christina Kim, Japan’s Yuka Saso, Kelly Tan of Malaysia, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Australian Hannah Green, Germany’s Olivia Cowan, Jenny Shin of South Korea and Nicole Broch Estrup of Denmark.
Ko, a former World No. 1, racked up seven birdies against one bogey, including three birdies in her final four holes. She won this event in 2016.
“I see the picture of me in the clubhouse and it feels like a really long time ago,” Ko said. “It was 2016, so like seven years ago. A lot of things have happened since then. It’s always good to be back at a place where I have a lot of good memories.”
Morgane Metraux of Switzerland and Bronte Law of England were part of a six-way tie at 5-under 66.
Defending champion Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand opened with a 3-under 68.
–Field Level Media
