After the first round at Palos Verdes Golf Club, Canada’s own Maude-Aimee Leblanc tied her career-low 18-hole score with a 7-under 64 at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship to lead by one over 2024 LPGA Tour rookie Malia Nam. Leblanc, who finished T13 at the 2023 event at Palos Verdes, is in her third event of the 2024 season, and entered this week with two missed cuts at the LPGA Drive On Championship and Blue Bay LPGA.
Starting off No. 10, Leblanc carded birdies on her first two par-5s (14 and 16) and continued to roll them after the turn. The 35-year-old closed with a 31 on her final nine holes, including three from 7-9. “I felt like I hit ball really well today and whenever I missed the green I was able to make up and down,” said Leblanc, who was the only player to go bogey-free on Thursday. “Made some really good saves and just kept the momentum going throughout the round, so, yeah, the putting was good as well. These greens can get really tricky. They're hard to read, but I feel like my caddie and I did a good job reading them today, so I'll take it.”
Leblanc ended her 2023 season early, missing the cut at the Mizuho Americas Open and taking time off due to injury. Now, she holds her first-ever lead or co-lead of her career on Tour. She’s got her mental coach on the bag this week, French-Canadian Michel Dubord, who is helping her “bring [herself] back to the present” while on the course. “I can feel my mind going in the future a lot when I'm playing, but when I'm over the ball I feel like I can bring myself back to the shot that I need to hit.”
Nam, who made her career LPGA Tour debut at the LPGA Drive On Championship, is one of seven University of Southern California alum in the field. Banking off experience at PVGC, she carded a phenomenal front-nine that included four birdies and a hole-out eagle (par-4 5th) in her first seven holes. As the adrenaline dissipated, Nam made her only bogey of the day on No. 13, but rebounded right after with a birdie on 14 to close with a 6-under 65.
“[I’ve played this course] probably over 100 times. Yeah, it's really nice that we were able to practice here,” said Nam. “We had a tournament here every year. I was able to play that when I was in college, so, yeah, it really helped today just knowing exactly what clubs I'm going to have in and how to prepare for this tournament as well.”
Lauren Hartlage, Yuka Saso and Madelene Sagstrom join UCLA alum Alison Lee in third at -5. Lee is in her second start of the season, after a T51 result at the HSBC Women’s World Championship where she went 79-69-77-68. The 29-year-old, who took extra time off in the off-season while recovering from a dog bite on her hand, recorded her fourth opening round in the 60s in her last five events, dating back to the 2023 Buick LPGA Shanghai. After a bogey on 13, she posted three-straight birdies form 14-16, and added three more on her back-nine holes in front of a hometown crowd.
“In the past I always couldn't really quite figure out this golf course, so it felt good to go out there and shoot a low number on the first round.
Definitely playing in the morning helped. Not a lot of wind. Greens are a little more smooth, so that definitely helped. But, yeah, feels good,” said Lee, who is originally from Los Angeles. “I had a lot of nerves coming into this week for sure. Even though we're kind of well into the season I've only played one tournament so far this season coming off a hand injury, but, yeah, feels good to come back, shoot a low number out there. Giving myself a little bit of confidence, and thankfully all the hard work I put in is paying off.”
Seven players sit in a tie for seventh at -3, including two-time major champion Brooke Henderson along with LPGA Tour winner and Irvine native Rose Zhang. Zhang, who finished her Stanford finals this week and is making her first Tour start since the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, won the Therese Hession Regional Challenge pres. by Northrop Grumman at PVGC in 2023 as an amateur before her Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Mizuho Americas Open victories. After a rocky start through her first 13 holes (two birdies and two bogeys), Zhang closed with three birdies in her last five holes, including a final one on the 18th.
“I do think there is a couple rusty areas where I want to work on, and it's just because I haven't been as consistent with the practice when I was back at school,” said Zhang. “So with that in mind, if I'm able to work a little bit more and keep my head in the more golf mindset, I'm excited to see what I'm able to do coming forward.”
Defending champion Ruoning Yin finished day one in a tie for 28th at -1. Danielle Kang, who sits in a tie for 44th (E), became the first Tour player to post an ace in 2024 with a hole-in-one on No. 11. Nelly Korda, who is making her first appearance since her LPGA Drive On Championship win, is T61 (+1). She has a chance to reach the top spot in the Rolex Rankings with at least a solo 22nd or better finish at the FHSP Championship. Current Rolex Rankings No. 1 and Fountain Valley native Lilia Vu is T80 after a 2-over 73.
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