First-Round Notes and Statistics
Kingsmill Championship presented by GEICO
Kingsmill Resort - River Course
Williamsburg, Virginia
May 17, 2018
LEADERBOARD
T1, -6 (65): Jaye Marie Green, In Gee Chun, Jessica Korda, Azahara Munoz, Annie Park
T6, -5 (66): Ariya Jutanugarn, Nasa Hataoka
Transcripts will be available this week at: http://asaptext.com/orgs/lpga/402/
ONLINE MEDIA CENTER
media.lpga.com
KORDA’S BOOT CAMP PAYS OFF, GREEN HEATING UP AT KINGSMILL CHAMPIONSHIP
On a wet and soggy day in Williamsburg, Virginia, five players turned in 6-under, 65’s to share the opening round lead at the Kingsmill Championship. Rain fluctuated between light and moderate for much of the day. Scoring conditions were ideal with soft conditions due to an inch and a half of overnight night and the additional rain on Thursday.
Jessica Korda, Annie Park and Azahara Munoz carded 65’s in the morning wave while In Gee Chun and Jaye Marie Green matched them in the afternoon.
Nasa Hataoka, who made a hole-in-one on 17 late in the day, and Ariya Jutanugarn are one shot off the lead at 5-under. A total of 29 players posted rounds of 3-under or better.
For more of LPGA.com’s “Five Things to Know” visit https://bit.ly/2rVzGLE
MUNOZ CONTINUES CLIMB BACK TO CONSISTENT SUCCESS
Azahara Munoz punctuated a brilliant first-round at the Kingsmill Championship with a chip-in birdie on hole eight, her seventeenth of the day, and a great up-and-down for par on nine.
She made seven birdies and turned in a 6-under, 65, her best round of the year.
“Everything was working,” said the always-smiling Spaniard. “I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens and hit some beautiful shots and made some nice putts too.”
For more on Munoz from Bret Lasky, visit: https://bit.ly/2IubSoZ
NOTABLE QUOTES
Jaye Marie Green, USA (65, -6), on her hard work paying off:
“Coming into this week I felt like my game has been in a good spot. Just for it to -- the score to actually reflect how good I’ve been playing felt good. I’ve been really wanting to get my first win, so that’s what my goal has been every week.”
Minjee Lee, Australia (67, -4), on Kingsmill Resort:
“I love coming back here. It’s probably one of my favorite golf courses out of the whole year. Yeah, and, I mean, it’s really beautiful here. I love looking at the pine trees. Just a nice atmosphere. I really like coming back.”
Yu Liu, China (67, -4), on her career-best finish in Texas and carrying over momentum:
“It was pretty magical last week. I didn’t expect me to finish that high. I would be very happy with a little top 10, but never expected a third.”
OF NOTE
Rolex Rankings No. 9 Jessica Korda’s bogey-free 65 is her lowest opening-round score of the 2018 season
Korda won in her first start of the 2018 season at the Honda LPGA Thailand after she had jaw surgery in the offseason
In six starts this season, Korda has a win and three additional top-10 finishes
This is Korda’s fifth career start at the Kingsmill Championship, her career-best finish at the event is T10 in 2016
Heading into the Kingsmill Championship, Korda ranks first on Tour in putts per GIR (1.69), scoring average (69.04), eagles (7) and rounds in the 60s (14)
Rolex Rankings No. 246 Annie Park’s opening round 65 is her lowest round of 2018 and the third-lowest round of her career (shot one round of 63 and 64 in 2016); it bests her previous low round at the Kingsmill Championship by six shots
Park missed the cut in her two previous starts at the Kingsmill Championship (2016 & 2017)
Park’s career-best finish is T6 at the 2016 ShopRite LPGA Classic where she shot a career-low 8-under 63 in the final round; her best finish in 2018 is T18 at the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship
On the Symetra Tour in 2015, Park won three times and was named both the Symetra Player of the Year and Gaelle Truet Rookie of the Year to earn LPGA Membership
Rolex Rankings No. 51 Azahara Munoz shot her lowest round of the 2018 season with a 6-under par 65 on Thursday
This is Munoz’s seventh career start at the Kingsmill Championship; her best-career finish is solo eighth in 2014
Since her lone LPGA win in 2012 (Sybase Match Play Championship), Munoz has five runner-up finishes including a solo second finish at the 2018 LOTTE Championship presented by HERSHEY
Munoz had 13 top-25 finishes in 2010 to win the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award
Rolex Rankings No. 176 Jaye Marie Green holds a share of the overnight lead for the first time in her LPGA career; her first-round 65 is her lowest round since shooting a 64 at the 2017 Marathon Classic
Green has made four previous starts at the Kingsmill Championship, and is looking to make her first cut at the event
Rolex Rankings No. 15 In Gee Chun finished in the top-10 in each of her last two starts at the Kingsmill Championship including a runner-up finish in 2017
Two past Kingsmill Championship winners are right at the top of the leaderboard through the first round: 2016 champion Ariya Jutanugarn (T6, 66) and 2015 champion Minjee Lee (T8, 67)
Nasa Hataoka (66, -5) hit a hole-in-one on the 17th hole using a 5-iron from 169 yards; her first ace as a professional
Co-leaders In Gee Chun, Jessica Korda and Annie Park were among 19 players to go bogey-free on Thursday
Four players in the field this week have started in all 13 previous Kingsmill Championships: Angela Stanford, Cristie Kerr, Candie Kung and Christina Kim
Five countries are represented by the top seven players: USA, Republic of Korea, Spain, Japan, Thailand
90 players finished at even par or better thru the first round, with 70 scoring under par for the day
SOCIAL MEDIA
Tournament: @KingsmillLPGA, @KingsmillResort, @KMChampionship (Instagram), #KMChampionship
TV TIMES (all times EST on Golf Channel)
Friday, May 18: 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 19: 5-7 p.m.
Sunday, May 20: 5-7 p.m.
TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS
18 holes: 62 (-9), In Gee Chun (third round, 2016) and Jiyai Shin (first round, 2012)
36 holes: 129 (-13), Lorena Ochoa, 2009
54 holes: 197 (-16), Paula Creamer, 2012
72 holes: 264 (-20), Lexi Thompson, 2017
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