BRADENTON, Florida — Former World No. 1 player Lydia Ko and Nelly Korda share the first-round lead following similar six-under-65 on Thursday in the LPGA Drive on Championship.
Fresh from the LPGA Tour’s season opener, Ko kept her intensity matched only by Korda who is eyeing a Tour victory after going empty handed last year.
Nanna Koerstz Madsen is one stroke behind, while World No. 2 Ruoning Yin was part of a big bunch at 67 including another major champion, Sei Young Kim.
Ko’s triumph last week, fashioned out on her home course at Lake Nona, was her first since 2022.
She took a 45-minute lesson with her Korea-based coach on Monday before driving more than two hours to Bradenton Country Club on the Gulf Coast.
“Yeah, you are obviously coming in with good momentum, and it’s nice that we’re going from Florida to Florida. It’s not like we’re in Florida and then we’re having to go to Houston or anything like that,” Ko was quoted as saying.
Korda is putting behind an injury-played 2023 but she opened with a bogey. Yet she played her next nine holes in 6 under.
Playing in her hometown, Korda birdied the second and third holes to get in the groove. Then she kept pounding despite the strong winds.
