After taking time to settle into her round on Thursday at Highland Meadows with a steady start, Hye-Jin Choi responded with seven birdies over her final 11 holes to finish her opening round with a 7-under-par 64 to grab the outright lead after the first round of the Dana Open.
Choi, a 24-year-old South Korean, felt out the course during the beginning of her afternoon round by parring each of the first seven holes after teeing off on the back nine at No. 10. Then she birdied the final two holes of her front nine before going 5-under on her back nine, including closing her round out with two birdies.
“It was a really great day,” Choi said. “I mean, I started a little weird, like my shot was not really great, so I try to just save and make the par and try to like until [No. 7]. Then I make the birdie on [No. 8], so I think, oh, I can do very better. So I try back nine, too, but I feel really good.”
Choi is one shot ahead of Aditi Ashok and Xiyu Lin at 6-under and two shots ahead of Paula Reto, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, and Chanettee Wannasaen, who are tied for fourth at 5-under.
Ashok and Lin briefly held the clubhouse lead before Choi notched her two straight birdies.
“I think I played pretty solid all day,” said Ashok, a 26-year-old from India. “I didn't miss a lot of greens, and when I did miss them they were sort of on the fringe or I think I only chipped once or twice. Yeah, just good ball striking and only missed a couple of fairways, too, which helped.”
Lin, a 28-year-old from China, sparked her round by holing out twice from the bunker.
“Almost like two impossible shots to hole out,” she said. “That's a bit of luck. Besides that, I think the back nine I played really good definitely after the second hole-out, and all the rest of the birdies that I played really comfortable, and it really started to get to where I want it to be. So I'm really happy seeing the back nine, and then it gives me lots of confidence.”
Reto and Vongtaveelap were tied for the clubhouse lead after the morning groups with varying levels of experience playing Highland Meadows.
This is the 10th time at Highland Meadows for Reto, a 34-year-old South African, who used her course knowledge to birdie four straight holes spanning the end of her front nine and the beginning of her back nine.
“I made a couple of birdies towards the end of my first nine, sort of leading to my second nine,” Reto said. “That confidence, especially that next stretch, 4, 5, and 6 are pretty hard holes. So just parring those and clinching a birdie on the par-3, yeah, all of that is good momentum.”
Vongtaveelap, a 21-year-old from Thailand, meanwhile, played a bogey-free round in her first Dana Open appearance which included an eagle on No. 11.
“This is my first round and I shot 5-under today,” Vongtaveelap said. “I loved my game today, which is bogey-free. So especially the shot that I love today is my putt. I can gain a lot of birdies and save lots of strokes by my putts. And, yeah, my game can't be this easy if there was no driver today. So, I drove my tee shot really good today. That's what made my game super easy.”
Wannasaen, a 20-year-old from Thailand, started the day with a bogey on her opening hole but finished her front nine with four birdies before going 2-under on her back nine.
Toledo native Stacy Lewis started her Thursday at Highland Meadows by showing up early to support Greyson, an 8-year-old Patient Champion for the tournament this week as he hit the ceremonial first tee shot. Then, the 39-year-old finished her afternoon by birdieing four of the final five holes, including No. 18, to finish in a large group at 4-under-par 67.
“It's probably the most number of birdies I made in a round in a very long time,” Lewis said. “It's nice to see a little bit of progress. And I putted it really nicely today. Very happy with the day. ... It's always nice to get off to a good start here.
“Scores are usually pretty tight here. Like between the cut and the lead is never a big margin here, so I feel like when you make the cut you still got a chance here on the weekend.”
Defending Dana Open champion Linn Grant is among the group of eight to finish at 4-under. So was another notable name in LPGA teaching professional Allie White who is director of golf at Lancaster Golf Club in Lancaster, Ohio.
White won the 2023 LPGA Professionals National Championship.
“You know, it was a pretty surreal day,” White said. “I'm trying really hard to stay very not score- or results-oriented and just trying hard to play one shot at a time and staying target-oriented. So that's what I'm going to try to do tomorrow. Just got to try to keep going deeper and get more birdies and stay in a birdie mindset.”
Monday qualifier Mary Kelly Mulcahy, a University of Findlay golfer, shot a 3-over-par 74 in her first-ever LPGA event.
“I honestly felt pretty good,” Mulcahy said. “I mean, I didn't really play as well as I hoped I would play. But, I mean, I can't really ask for much more. My first time out here, I really felt comfortable. I never felt nervous. I made a lot of putts on the front nine. They weren't falling on the back nine. So, yeah, I can't really ask for much more right now.”
Lexi Thompson ended her day with a 1-over-par 72 to tie for 82nd overall. Sponsor’s exemption Mia Hammond, a 16-year-old who made the cut at last year’s Dana Open, shot a 5-over-par 76 to tie for 132nd.
One of the highlights of the day belonged to 43-year-old Canadian Alena Sharp, who recorded a hole-in-one on No. 14.
“I had 165 yards and I hit a 6-iron I think to hit just on the front and went in the cup,” Sharp said. “Yeah, good shot and it was on the pin the whole way. Yeah, happy with it. Haven't had a hole-in-one in a while.”
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