Australia’s Karis Davidson shares the lead at the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea after shooting an opening-round 66.
The 28-year-old carded six birdies on her final eight holes but bogeyed her ninth to be at six-under and level with Japan’s Yuri Yoshida.
Davidson is yet to win on the LPGA Tour but is having an impressive season, making the cut in 15 of her 17 starts and so far earning $US785,600 ($A1.2m) in prize money.
She was memorably right in contention at the Women’s PGA Championship in Minnesota in June, before finishing in a tie for 12th.
Davidson started her round with a birdie on Thursday on the 10th hole at the Pine Beach Golf Links, southwest of Gwangju.
Yoshida is also seeking her first win on the LPGA Tour and carded a bogey-free round to start the tournament.
Robyn Choi is the next best-placed Australia and is in a tie for 18th after posting a two-under 70.
Cassie Porter shares 40th after an even-par 70, while Grace Kim (73) and Minjee Lee (76) are the other Australians in the field.
No.3-ranked Haeran Ryu shot 67 and was tied for third. Her round included a chip-in birdie from off the 5th green. Also tied for third were Americans Lucy Li and Lauren Coughlin and European Solheim Cup player Julia Lopez Ramirez.
No.7-ranked Lottie Woad, who was on the victorious European team in the Solheim Cup, shot 69.
Defending champion Sei Young Kim, who ended a five-year victory drought in 2025 with a win on the Pine Beach links, had an opening 72.
Ruoning Yin, who is not in the 83-player, no-cut field this week, won last week’s tournament in Shanghai. She became the third player this season to surpass $3 million in official prize money, joining Nelly Korda ($6.2 million) and Ryu ($4.5 million).
The Maybank Championship is scheduled for next week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the third of four events on the tour’s late-season Asian swing. It will be followed by a tournament in Japan before the LPGA returns to Florida to wrap up the season.
With the AP
