Korda seizes share of early lead at Kingsmill Championship

WASHINGTON: World number eight Jessica Korda fired a bogeyfree six-under par 65 to grab a share of the lead with four others at the USLPGA’s Kingsmill Championship after the opening round on Thursday.

American Korda, who teed off in the morning session, took advantage of calmer conditions and sits atop the leaderboard with Spain’s Azahara Munoz, Annie Park, South Korea’s Chun In-gee, and Jaye Marie Green. It rained off and on for much of Thursday and weather forecasters were predicting poorer weather over the next few days.

“You knew if the wind wasn’t blowing and the greens were soft you could be really aggressive. I just needed some birdies to drop, and that’s exactly what happened,” Korda said.

Japan’s Nasa Hataoka, who made a hole-in-one on 17 late in the day, and Ariya Jutanugarn, of Thailand, were one shot off the lead at five-under.

A total of 29 players posted rounds of three-under or better on the River Course.

Korda started quickly by making birdie on three of her first five holes. She hit a long drive down the centre of the fairway and then followed up with a sand wedge to four feet for another birdie on her last hole.

“I felt good,” said Korda, who has finished in the top 10 six times this season and has finished no worse than tied for 26th overall. “I stuck to my process. I’m working on a couple of things before the US Open so I just stuck to that and it worked.”

Korda is still recovering from offseason jaw surgery that included using 27 screws to fix a problem that was giving her frequent headaches.

Despite the lengthy rehab she managed to win in her first start of the year in Thailand and if she is victorious this week, Korda would become the first two-time winner on the Tour so far this season.