IVINS, Utah — Epson Tour graduate Lucy Li is off to a strong start at the Black Desert Championship presented by Greater Zion. The Redwood Shores, Calif. native carded a nearly perfect 7-under 65 on Thursday in Ivins, Utah to begin the week at the inaugural event, a first-round effort that saw her make one bogey and eight birdies at Black Desert Resort.

Starting on the par-4 10th hole, it was a slow burn for Li early, but she caught fire on the par-5 13th hole with a birdie and then rattled off three more on holes 14, 15 and 16 to quickly climb to 4-under for the round. She parred 17 and 18 before making her only bogey of the day on the par-4 1st hole, but Li recovered immediately with a birdie on two to get back to 4-under.

She landed another birdie on the par-4 5th hole and then closed out round one with a pair of back-to-back birdies on holes eight and nine to post a 7-under 65, her first score of 65 or better since she shot 65 in the first round of last year’s Buick LPGA Shanghai.

“(I’m) hitting the ball really well and rolling it really well, so both of those things combined, you're going to shoot low scores out there. Really beautiful day, and so happy to be out here,” said Li, who hit 12 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens on Thursday. “I've been hitting it really well for a while now, so it's good to see some putts go in and make some birdies. Out here, you kind of have to hit the fairway. It was a good round. I enjoyed the group I was playing with.”

The Black Desert Championship is Li’s eighth start of the 2025 LPGA Tour season, and so far, she has played some pretty steady golf this year, only missing one cut at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass and earning one top-20 result at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards (T17). She played fairly well through the first three rounds of The Chevron Championship last week, what is the first major tournament of the year on the LPGA Tour, but Li ultimately faded after finishing with a 77 in the final round.

Despite that frustrating performance on Sunday, Li still managed to tie for 30th at The Club at Carlton Woods, her best result in a major championship since becoming an LPGA Tour member in 2023. And she seems to have carried some of that momentum with her into this week in Ivins, Utah, as Li currently sits two shots off the pace early with 54 holes remaining at Black Desert Resort.

“I don't think I made any sort of mental change. It's kind of just hit each shot as best you can, really,” Li said when asked how she mentally prepared for this week. “I had a lot of positives from last week. I didn't finish great, but I was hitting the ball really good. I knew that would be good out here.”

While no golf tournament is won on day one, it’s always helpful for an athlete to get off on the right foot and not put themselves behind the 8-ball early by carding an incredibly high score on Thursday. Her opening 65 has given Li plenty of positives on which to build over the next three days of play at the Black Desert Resort Championship, but she is trying not to think about anything except the shot she has right in front of her this week at Black Desert Resort, a strategy Li is hoping will carry her either to her first career LPGA Tour victory or first top-10 finish of the 2025 season on Sunday afternoon in the Utah desert.

“It's very trite to say, but it really is one shot at a time,” Li said. “I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing and not think too much about anything else. That's really the key. No matter how many years of golf you played, (I’ve) been professional for a while now, you kind of learn the same lessons over and over again, that's to make sure you're always in the moment.”

Epson Grad Lucy Li Cards 65 to Sit in Top 10 Early at Black Desert Championship

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