The wind seemed to kick up early in the afternoon at the LPGA Drive On Championship.
And kicked some of the best LPGA players down the leaderboard.
World No. 2 Nelly Korda, Yuka Saso, and Brooke Henderson — three of the top 10 players in the world — aren’t in the top 50 in the field after the first round of the tournament at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida.
Nasa Hataoka and Marina Alex both shot 7-under 65s in the return Thursday of the LPGA to Fort Myers for the first time in 47 years.
The majority near the top of the leaderboard played in the morning wave in the 120-player field before winds seemed to both strengthen and change directions.
Nelly’s older sister Jessica withdrew after six holes, saying on social media she suffered a sprained rib and had tried to play through it.
“I am getting the treatment I need and hope to be back for the California stretch,” she said in the post.
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Hataoka, one of five in of the top 10 in the world playing this week, birdied Nos. 17 and 18 to close her first nine, then shot a 4-under 32 on the back. She had just one bogey.
“I was able to bring the front nine momentum to the back nine,” she said. “Especially on this condition I was chatting Greg, my caddie, and we were able to manage really well.”
Alex birdied Nos. 9-13 and closed with another on No. 18 in a bogey-free round.
“The final stretch of holes are kind of tough. 14, 15, 16 — 17 was definitely a birdie putt out there, but 14, 15, 16 were tough holes,” she said. “Luckily 18 playing downwind made it pretty reachable to get to like the approach there.”
Linnea Johansson of Sweden and Ireland’s Leona Maguire both had 6-under 66s and are tied for third, along with 2021 Rookie of the Year Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and South Korea’s Yaeeun Hong who had the best rounds of the afternoon wave.
“It was playing tough, windy, firm, and fast,” said Tavatanakit, who birdied three of her first six holes. “Where you are on the green or positioning yourself was really important in the afternoon. I felt like I was solid enough to get myself good looks.”
Madelene Sagstrom, who won the last women’s professional event played in Fort Myers, the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial on the now-Epson Tour at Cypress Lake Country Club in 2016, had a 65 in the afternoon, and so did England’s Charley Hull and Bronte Law. They are tied for fifth with Caroline Masson and Jeongeun Lee6.
“I think it firmed up a little bit,” Sagstrom said of the afternoon. “The greens are phenomenal, so I think they probably — I mean, it’s tricky. Like the end stretch here on back nine is really tricky.
“I know the wind has been keeping up all day, so I think maybe just a bit of firmness. Other than that, I think it’s been quite similar for everyone today.”
Most of the players were in Boca Raton last week, when wind and chilly temperatures dominated the weekend. Alex shot 77-72 in her last two rounds and dropped into a tie for 34th.
“I was thankful for those rounds,” Alex said. “I mean, when you asked me in the moment I was probably really pissed and furious because I was having a good start and then I kind of just fizzled out there, but it definitely helped coming into today just being a little bit more prepared, so that was good.”
Thursday, Nelly Korda birdied No. 17 to finish at even par. Henderson birdied No. 18 to get to 1 under after starting her round with a double-bogey. Saso had a stretch on the back nine of back-to-back bogeys followed by a quadruple-bogey on No. 16 and shot a 5-over 77.
Stephanie Meadow had the first hole-in-one of the season, on No. 14. A total of $20,000 will be donated by CME Group to St. Jude.
“I had perfect number, little 6-iron,” said Meadow, who happens to be sponsored by CME Group. “It was a little bit windy, and, I don’t know, stripped it right at it. Wind never touched it and just rolled right up there into the hole.
“It’s been a while since the I had a hole-in-one and first one in LPGA career, in a tournament, so, yeah, it’s very nice.”
Golf evened the score two holes later.
“You know, you get good luck, you make a hole-in-one, and then two holes later I pull a 7-iron, hits a sprinkler two yards left of the green and ricochets 30 yards left into a hazard,” she said. “So I got some awesome luck and then some really crappy luck. So, yeah, wasn’t super happy after that.”
With just two rounds remaining instead of three, the players near the top were happy to have that type of a first round.
“Fifty-four-hole events are always kind of important to have a good start because you have that one less day to possibly make up ground if you’re a little bit behind,” Alex said. “So I’ve had some good success in 54-hole events in the past. I’m excited for the next two days, and just see what happens. I mean, I played a really great round of golf today, so I have to anticipate there might be a little bit of some up and downs along the way.
“But that doesn’t mean can’t have a great week out here.”
