Korda leads, Kang lurks at LPGA major

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Nelly Korda has had Grand Slam events on her mind for the past two weeks, not just her own, and she made it through the first round Thursday of the ANA Inspiration with just the start she wanted.

With heat-baked greens so firm she couldn’t find pitch marks, Korda hit hybrid off the tee on the par-5 18th with a front pin. That set her up for a wedge to 3 feet below the hole for birdie and a 6-under-par 66, giving her a one-shot lead.

Two-time major champion In Gee Chun scrambled for par on the 18th for a 67. Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden matched that score with a par on her closing hole at the par-5 ninth with a third shot out of rough so thick she barely could see her ball.

Las Vegas resident Danielle Kang, projected to reach No. 1 in the world with a victory at Mission Hills, and Brooke Henderson of Canada were among those two shots behind.

The temperatures didn’t hit 100 degrees in the desert. It still was exhausting for Korda, who described her start as “good, but tired, for sure.”

Imagine how her father felt. Petr

Korda, the 1998 Australian Open tennis champion, was on the 10th fairway in the morning to watch his older daughter, Jessica, post a 74. Then it was another 18 holes, along with their mother, to watch Nelly.

■ PGA: At Napa, Calif., Russell Knox shot a 9-under 63 to take the first-round lead in the season-opening Safeway Open. After missing the Fedex Cup playoffs by two spots to close last season, Knox had seven birdies and eagled the 550-yard, par-5 fifth hole. Sam Burns, Cameron Percy and Bo Hoag were one stroke back. Two-time Safeway Open champ Brendan Steele joined Pat Perez at 65.

■ European PGA: At Vilamoura, Portugal, Liam Johnston had 10 birdies and no bogeys in a career-best 10-under 61, leaving the Scot one stroke ahead of Frenchman Julien Guerrier for the firstround lead in the Portugal Masters.