Two aces highlighted Thursday’s opening round at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, as Allisen Corpuz and Lindy Duncan each found the bottom of the cup on the par-3 third hole at Pelican Golf Club.

Corpuz, playing in the morning wave off No. 10, struck a 6-iron from 163 yards to record her first of the 2026 LPGA Tour season. The ace moved Corpuz to a 3-under 67 that included two birdies and a bogey, leaving her tied for 19th after the morning session. She was sharp throughout the opener, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation.

“It’s kind of been a crazy season. I feel like this is—like including practice rounds, this is probably like my 12th hole out. So it’s just been a year where—I mean, I made a hole-in-one in a practice round earlier this year as well,” Corpuz said after her round. “Got to the tee and at first we were thinking maybe a 7-iron. We weren’t sure what the wind was doing. Thought it was helping a little. And then kind of last second we were like, 6 might be a little passive, but I think that’s a better club. Took it at the flag. Thought the wind would be a little left, and just hit a really good one, just straight at it.”

Corpuz’s playing partners, A Lim Kim and Somi Lee, joined her in watching the ball track straight toward the pin and drop.

“I think the whole group got to watch it roll in, which was really exciting,” Corpuz said. “I feel like you don’t really get to see it all the time. Yeah, it was really fun.”

The 2023 U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally champion entered the penultimate event of the season having made 16 cuts in 20 starts, highlighted by five top-10 finishes, including a solo third-place showing at the FM Championship in August.

Hours later in the afternoon wave, Duncan matched Corpuz’s feat on the very same par-3 third hole. Starting on No. 1 alongside Narin An and Sophia Schubert, Duncan opened with back-to-back birdies on holes 1 and 2 before carding her ace on No. 3. She added another birdie on No. 5 and closed her front nine with a birdie on No. 9 to make the turn in 6-under 29, surging into a tie for third place at 6-under overall as her round remained in progress.

For Duncan, the fast start carries major implications. The 35-year-old veteran entered the week ranked No. 74 in the Race to the CME Globe standings and needs to climb into the top 60 after Sunday’s final round to qualify for next week’s $11 million CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla.

A strong finish in Belleair would cap a resilient 2026 campaign for Duncan, who has made 19 cuts in 24 starts this season. Her year has been anchored by a season-best seventh-place finish at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and a standout debut as a captain’s pick for the U.S. Solheim Cup team in September, where she posted a 2-1-0 record at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands. By surging onto the first page of the leaderboard early in Round 1, Duncan immediately put herself in position to make the significant Race to the CME Globe leap required to extend her season into the finale.

Beyond boosting both players on the leaderboard, Thursday’s twin aces delivered a major charitable impact. Through the CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude program, CME Group donates $20,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for every hole-in-one made during the 2026 LPGA Tour season.

“I love like the LPGA initiatives that give back to the community, especially like a cause like St. Jude’s,” Corpuz said. “It means a lot to know that the money is going to a good place and it’s going to help people out.”

With Corpuz and Duncan both recording aces on No. 3 in the opening round, CME Group will donate a combined $40,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to support childhood cancer treatment and research.

Allisen Corpuz and Lindy Duncan record opening-round aces at The ANNIKA

Related Articles