ADELAIDE: The leaderboard after round one of the ISPS Women's Australian Open is chalk full of big names, proven winners, and those hoping to finally get over a hump.
Twenty golfers sit within three shots of the lead after round one, but everyone is chasing Jin Young Ko.
Sisters Moriya and Ariya Jutanugarn left themselves in precarious positions, in a tie for 13th place with six other golfers. They both shot 69 in the first round, four strokes behind Ko.
The next-best Thai golfer was Prima Thammaraks. She shot 70, one worse than the Jutanugarn sisters, but found herself well down the very crowded leaderboard in an 11-golfer tie for 21st place, five shots behind Ko.
Next week, the women head for Chon Buri and the $1.6 million Honda LPGA Thailand tournament.
Ko, who won the 2017 LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship, also tied for 15th at the US Women's Open a year ago. This week marks her 2018 LPGA Tour debut as a member.
She was bogey-free through 10 holes and was at 4-under par before a colourful final seven holes saw her make five birdies and two bogeys. She birdied her final three holes to get to 7-under for the day
"My goal was (a) bogey-free round… I did (have) two bogeys, but not bad," said Ko, who admitted she felt like a rookie despite her years on the Korean LPGA Tour and the wins under her belt. "I had a solid round today and I hit some great shots on the back nine… on the front nine too. Not a bad first round."
Nipping at her heels is fellow South Korean Jiyai Shin who is alone in second after a bogey-free 5-under-par 67. Shin is using a member of Kooyonga Golf Course as her caddie this week – someone she just met on Monday.
Clearly, things have been working out so far.
"Today I played pretty good, I missed only one fairway and missed maybe one green, so my shot was great, and my putting was great too," she said. "I really enjoyed today... a bogey-free round."
Shin won this event in 2013, her last victory on the LPGA Tour. Shin won three times in both 2008 and 2009, and became the first Asian golfer to ascend to No.1 in the Rolex Rankings (2010).
There's a 10-way tie for third at 4-under par, including Lydia Ko (who captured this event in 2015 and finished runner-up in 2016), American Nelly Korda (looking for her first win after a solid rookie season), LPGA Tour rookie Luna Soborn Glames of Spain, and Mo Martin, who has switched to a short putter and is looking for her first win since 2014.
"I think all parts of my game are kind of getting to a supremely high level," said Martin. "I think there's still a bit of adjustment going from the long putter to the short putter, but I think I'm in a really good place with that now and my ball striking's still at a really high level. Obviously, I'm still loving the game, so a lot of pieces are there right now."
Defending champion Ha Na Jang was even par after round one.
