Minjee Lee leads Aussie push at rich Tour Championship

[ad_1] South Korean Somi Lee has set a cracking tempo as Australia's golf aces made encouraging begins to the LPGA Tour's mega-money season-ending championship in Florida.

World quantity 4 Minjee Lee birdied the penultimate gap to match the 4-under-par 68s of Grace Kim and Steph Kyriacou as Tiburon Golf Membership got here beneath assault.

<h2 class="Typography_base__sj2RP Heading_heading__VGa5B future_heading__Gcudw Heading_default__Z3p_p Typography_sizeMobile18__eJCIB Typography_sizeDesktop20___6qCS Typography_lineHeightMobile24__crkfh Typography_lineHeightDesktop24__Fh_y5 Typography_marginBottomMobileSmall__6wx7m Typography_marginBottomDesktopSmall__CboX4 Typography_bold__FqafP Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx Typography_normalise__u5o1s" data-component="Heading">Tour Championship Australians in spherical one

Minjee Lee - 4-under (68)Grace Kim - 4-under (68)Steph Kyriacou - 4-under (68)Hannah Inexperienced - 4-over (76) Solely 17 gamers within the elite 60-strong discipline for the $US11 million ($17.1 million) Tour Championship failed to interrupt par throughout the opening spherical in Naples.

With seven birdies and an eagle on the par-5 seventeenth gap, Lee took full benefit of the benign circumstances on Thursday (Friday AEST).

"It is an honour taking part in my first Tour Championship, and I do not suppose I used to be essentially able to be nervous about something," the chief mentioned.

"I believed to myself, 'Regardless of the rating is or how I play, let's simply sort of put together for subsequent 12 months's season'.

"That sort of alleviated the stress in at this time's spherical to have the ability to get a greater rating."

The 26-year-old gave her chasers hope with a bogey on the final as American Allisen Corpuz emerged as Lee's closest pursuer, two photographs again after a first-round 66.

Defending champion and world primary Jeeno Thitikul is lurking ominously at 5-under, alongside Japan's Nasa Hataoka and Korean pair Sei Younger Kim and Jin Hee Im.

However after coming into the primary spherical having totalled a neat 50-under on the course over the previous three years, the Thai celebrity looms as soon as once more because the participant to beat regardless of carrying a proper wrist damage into her title defence.

"I do know we're taking part in for $4 million cheques nevertheless it's similar to nearly a bonus for me this 12 months to have the ability to play right here," Thitikul mentioned.

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"I've had a extremely good run for the 12 months, so nothing to consider that a lot."

A month after teaming to win the celebrated Worldwide Crown occasion in Seoul, Aussies Lee, Kim and Kyriacou all sit in a nine-way tie for seventh, 4 strokes off the lead.

Already the season's cash chief, Lee may greater than double her 2025 on-course earnings if she collects the report $US4 million ($6.21 million) winner's cheque on Sunday.

The triple main winner made an inauspicious begin, bogeying the second gap, earlier than choosing up 5 birdies in an in any other case mistake-free spherical.

"Yeah, fairly stable day at this time," Lee mentioned.

"I used to be fairly regular all day, so nothing too loopy.

"However hopefully I can take the momentum from at this time into the following few days."

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With some tremendous scrambling, Kim and Kyriacou additionally each had 5 birdies and only one bogey of their rounds.

New Zealand's world quantity 4 Lydia Ko opened with a 3-under 69, two higher than American world quantity two Nelly Korda, who stays winless in 2025 after saluting seven occasions final 12 months.

Hannah Inexperienced, the fourth member of Australia's triumphant Worldwide Crown crew, is propping up the sphere following a horror 4-over 76, together with a double-bogey six on the final.