South Korean Somi Lee has set a cracking pace as Australia’s golf aces made encouraging starts to the LPGA Tour’s mega-money season-ending championship in Florida.<\/p>\n
World number four Minjee Lee birdied the penultimate hole to match the 4-under-par 68s of Grace Kim and Steph Kyriacou as Tiburon Golf Club came under attack.<\/p>\n
Tour Championship<\/p>\n
Australians in round one<\/p>\n
Minjee Lee – 4-under (68)Grace Kim – 4-under (68)Steph Kyriacou – 4-under (68)Hannah Green – 4-over (76)<\/p>\n
Only 17 players in the elite 60-strong field for the $US11 million ($17.1 million) Tour Championship failed to break par during the opening round in Naples.<\/p>\n
With seven birdies and an eagle at the par-5 17th hole, Lee took full advantage of the benign conditions on Thursday (Friday AEST).<\/p>\n
“It’s an honour playing my first Tour Championship, and I don’t think I was necessarily in a position to be nervous about anything,” the leader said.<\/p>\n
“I thought to myself, ‘Whatever the score is or how I play, let’s just kind of prepare for next year’s season’.<\/p>\n
“That kind of alleviated the stress in today’s round to be able to get a better score.”<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old gave her chasers hope with a bogey at the last as American Allisen Corpuz emerged as Lee’s closest pursuer, two shots back after a first-round 66.<\/p>\n
Defending champion and world number one Jeeno Thitikul is lurking ominously at 5-under, alongside Japan’s Nasa Hataoka and Korean pair Sei Young Kim and Jin Hee Im.<\/p>\n
But after entering the first round having totalled a neat 50-under at the course over the past three years, the Thai superstar looms once again as the player to beat despite carrying a right wrist injury into her title defence.<\/p>\n
“I know we are playing for $4 million cheques but it’s just like almost a bonus for me this year to be able to play here,” Thitikul said.<\/p>\n