BELLEAIR, Fla. (AP) — Charley Hull, fresh off his first victory in more than two years, didn’t lose his form from Saudi Arabia to Florida in the opener with a 6-under 64 Thursday to share the lead with Jiwon Jeon. after the first round of The Annika.
Nelly Korda has not lost much by being out of competition for almost two months. The No. 1 player in the women’s world rankings made four birdies over her final five holes to salvage a 66.
Hull won two weeks ago in the Aramco Team Series-Riyadh, a 54-hole Ladies European Tour tournament. It was her first title since winning in Texas on the LPGA Tour in 2022.
“I feel like I played really, really well all year,” Hull said. “Sometimes you just forget how to win. It kind of reminded me how to win.
It was a good start for Jeon, especially his hole-in-one on the par-3 third hole at Pelican Golf Club. She also made six birdies to offset a pair of bogeys.
She hit a hybrid — the equivalent of a 4-iron — on the 182-yard third hole, and unlike some of her previous aces, she actually saw it go in.
“I had the exact same distance on the last hole for the second shot, so I was talking to my caddy, ‘Like I just hit the same shot?’ Then I hit it and then I saw that one bounce and I went into the hole,” she said. “It was really cool to see the hole-in-one go in.”
Jeon is No. 98 in the Race to CME Globe, and this is the final tournament for players to break into the top 60 and qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship next week on the Gulf Coast from Florida to Naples.
All that matters is making it to the finale: whoever wins wins a $4 million prize and is declared the Race to CME Globe champion.
Even if she doesn’t succeed, the top priority is to keep her LPGA card. The first 100 are guaranteed full status for 2025.
“Obviously I want to keep my card for next year, but I try not to think about it too much,” she said. “I literally gave everything in the last three days of training. I’m trying to figure out what I need to do here and then really focus on each shot. And then I think that this work really paid off today. I want to continue doing the same thing for the rest of the tournament.
Korda prepared for The Annika by playing nine holes in the pro-am with WNBA star Caitlin Clarkand she made her big move towards the end. After making back-to-back bogeys that brought her back into a tie for the day, Korda completed her streak of birdies, ending her day with intervene from the 18th green.
She last played on September 22 at the Kroger Queen City Championship, withdrawing from two events in Asia due to a neck injury. It was the first time she had completed 18 holes in almost two months.
“I was definitely a little nervous the first couple of holes, I just didn’t know what to expect from my game because I hadn’t played too much,” Korda said. “Under pressure, it’s a lot different than when you go out on a cart by yourself and just play a trick. But I’m pretty happy with the way I played. I hit a few free shots in the middle of the round, but other than that, I mean, it’s something I can work on.
Gemma Dryburgh and Mi Hyang Lee were one shot behind a 65. Lee came into the week ranked 59th, so it was an important step to ensure she could extend her season.
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