Ewart Shadoff leads in Taiwan
Former Lobo shoots 7-under 65 in opening round
TAOYUAN, Taiwan — Jodi Ewart Shadoff shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA Taiwan Championship.
Shadoff, a former Lobo who is seeking her first career victory, made seven birdies in a bogey-free round at the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club to finish ahead Haeji Kang and Nelly Korda (both 67).
“I think changing my irons a month ago has definitely helped with my confidence,” Shadoff said. “I’ve just been lacking feel in my long game the whole year, really, and it’s just affected my confidence somewhat. So it’s nice just to, like, be able to trust what I’m doing and my swing.”
Korda has four top-10 finishes in Asia and tied for second at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore in March for her best finish.
“I just love Asia in general,” Korda said. “I love the Asian Swing. It just seems, like, so easy for the players. Everyone is around each other. It’s kind of like we’re a big family. I feel comfortable.”
Kang also was bogey-free, while Korda eagled the par5 third hole and added four birdies against a lone bogey.
Ally McDonald (68) offset a double bogey with six birdies and was a further stroke back with Moriya Jutanugarn, local favorite Wei Ling Hsu, Jeong Eun Lee and So Yeon Ryu.
Defending champion Eun Hee-ji (70) and was tied for 13th in a large group that included Brook Henderson and Chella Choi.
The tournament is the third of five being played in South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan in the LPGA’s annual Asian swing.
HSBC CHAMPIONS: In Shanghai, Patrick Reed had a Ryder Cup he’d like to forget and spent three weeks at home in Texas preparing to finish the year strong.
He was at his best Thursday in the HSBC Champions.
Even in blustery conditions, Reed putted for birdie on every hole at Sheshan International and closed out his bogey-free round with a 25-foot birdie putt for an 8-under 64, giving him a twoshot lead over Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele.
“It felt really good, because if you can go out and shoot rounds like that in these kind of conditions, you know you’re going to have confidence when the wind dies down and there are perfect conditions out there,” Reed said.
Schauffele also managed a bogey-free round in wind strong enough to be a twoclub difference at times. He saved par on the final hole at No. 9 from the right rough with an approach that narrowly cleared the water into a patch of fairway short of the green, a pitch-and-run to 10 feet and another solid putt.
Matt Fitzpatrick had five straight birdies to overcome a rough start and post a 67.
Brooks Koepka, in his debut at No. 1 in the world, didn’t deliver much excitement. He had 16 pars, one bogey and one birdie for a 72. He was stunned when his second shot in the par-5 18th spun off the front of the green and into the water, forcing him to scramble for par at the turn instead of an easy birdie or better. SANDERSON FARMS: In Jackson, Miss., Cameron Champ shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday in wet, windy and unseasonably cool conditions at the Country Club of Jackson to take the firstround lead in the Sanderson Farms Championship.