Round one of the LPGA’s Kroger Queen City Championship got underway on Thursday at TPC River’s Bend with Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow making her third start of the season after being out for injury.
The Antrim native got off to a steady start, making par on the first five holes before a textbook birdie came on the sixth.
The 33-year-old was confident off the tee, hitting 12/14 fairways but lost some momentum with her approach shots, only hitting 12/18 greens in regulation.
A bogey for Meadow came as she closed out her front nine to see her tee off on the back at even par.
Again, Meadow continued steadily, playing safe golf to be even par until the final hole. An error on the par-5 18th saw Meadow drop a shot and complete her first round on one-over-par in T110.
At the top end of the leaderboard, Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen broke out of her recent poor form to shoot a nine-under-par 63 and take a two-shot lead into round two.
Wannasaen holed out a 9-iron shot for eagle on the par-4 10th and had seven birdies in her morning round at soggy TPC River’s Bend.
Wannasaen’s back nine was flawless, going six-under through nine holes and even closed out with style as she made back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18.
“Actually, today played really good,” Wannasaen said. “After AIG (Women’s British Open), I have a little bit struggle with my swing, so like I cannot hit like a solid shot.”
The 21-year-old Thai player has two LPGA Tour victories, the 2023 Portland Classic and 2024 Dana Open.
USA’s Gigi Stoll occupies the solo second place after 18 holes, posting a seven-under-par round that saw six birdies and an eagle.
“I think they’re a little shorter than usual, so playing the par 5s well out here is going to be a big advantage,” Stoll said. “I just got the ball rolling today.”
Sei Young Kim was another stroke back with Patty Tavatanakit, A Lim Kim, Peiyun Chien, Kumkang Park and Jenny Bae, all sharing T3 on six-under-par.
World no.2 Nelly Korda posted a five-under-par round to be in a tie for ninth as she searches for her first LPGA win of the season.
“Made a couple putts here and there,” Korda said. “Overall, just kind of everything was flowing and the weather was great. There was really no wind. So, with kind of the saturated conditions, a little softer, you could be a little bit more aggressive.”
Charley Hull opened with a four-under 68. She’s coming off a runner-up finish in Houston as part of the Aramco series on the Ladies European Tour.
“I played pretty solid last week and, obviously, now first week back on the LPGA carrying on into this week,” Hull said. “Hopefully, we can go low over the next few days.”
Leaderboard
