Ariya trails leader 3 strokes in LPGA Singapore
Thai No 1 Ariya Jutanugarn shrugged off a sluggish start to fire a 68 to trail American leader Jennifer Song by three strokes after the opening round of the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore on Thursday.
The former world No 1 committed back-to-back bogeys on the second and third holes before she recovered to fire six birdies to share the fourth place alongside American Danielle Kang, South Korean In Gee Chun, Chella Choi, Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden and last week’s winner in Thailand Jessica Korda of the US.
“I didn’t have a good start today, but I come back like pretty good and I just tried to stay focused on my game,” said Ariya who finished inside the top 10 last week in the home tournament.
Song, the world No 66, enjoyed a bogey free round to fire a 65 to seize the top position on the leader’s board followed by South Korean Eun-Hee Ji and American Michelle Wi, each with a 67.
Thai teen prodigy Atthaya Thitikul who earned a slot into the tournament by winning the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Open last week at this same course in Santosa opened with a 70.
“I had a lot of confidence because I just won last week at this course. I was a bit nervous at the beginning as there are so many top players. But this is a good experience for me and I will try to have fun this week,” said the 15-year-old Thai.
