Japan’s Ayaka Furue shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the U.S. LPGA Tour’s season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
The 23-year-old from Kobe made seven birdies, two of them at the final two holes, without a bogey at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida.
Sweden’s Maja Stark and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez shared second place, followed by Americans Ally Ewing and Danielle Kang in a tie for fourth at 4 under.
“I played really good golf for the first day of the season,” Furue said. “It was better than I expected considering it was my first tournament in a while. I hope to continue playing like this.”
Of the other two Japanese in the 35-player, no-cut event, Nasa Hataoka and Mone Inami shared 13th and 32nd after rounds of 70 and 75, respectively.
Inami, the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist who has won 13 times on the Japan LPGA Tour, is playing her first season on the U.S. tour after winning the TOTO Japan Classic last November, an event co-sanctioned by the two tours.
By Nadeem Faisal Baiga
