Washington, Jun 21:
Indian golfer Aditi Ashok rebounded from a disappointing front nine of 3-over to finish at even par for the first round in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship here.
Aditi, playing her 30th Major, was tied-22nd after the first round.
Aditi made the cut at both the Chevron and the US Open this year and this is her third Major of 2024 with Evian and AIG Women’s Open still to come.
She had bogeys on the first, seventh and ninth, but started making up with birdies on 10th and 11th on the back nine. A dropped shot on the 14th was followed by birdies on the 16th and 18th for a 72.
Aditi’s record at the PGA is modest with the 26-year-old making the cut four times in six previous starts and having a best finish of tied-29th in 2017. Lexi Thompson grabbed the lead after shooting a 4-under 68. Thompson made six birdies on her way to a one-shot lead over Nelly Korda and Patty Tavatanakit.
Teeing off in the afternoon on the dried out Sahalee Country Club, Thompson started hot with three straight birdies.
The 29-year-old Thompson shot a bogey-free 32 on the front nine. After a bogey at No. 10, she rebounded with birdies at No. 12 and 14 before another bogey at the 16th.
She won the last of her 11 LPGA Tour titles at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June 2019.
The top-ranked Korda, who missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open and the Meijer LPGA Classic in her last two starts after winning six out of seven events, made four birdies on her first six holes. She had a total of six birdies, a bogey and a double on the par-4 fourth hole, which dropped her back to 2-under. A birdie on the ninth saw her finish at 69.
Lilia Vu, who won last week in her return from a back injury, shot 75. Yuka Saso, the U.S. Open winner three weeks ago, made four consecutive bogeys on the back nine and finished at 2-over 74. Brooke Henderson, who won in 2016, shot 73.
