Five-way tie at the top after first round at Honda LPGA Thailand

(Pattaya - February 23, 2023) – There was a five-way tie at the top of the 16th Honda LPGA Thailand 2023 Championship today when Nasa Hataoka, Jennifer Kupcho, Xiyu Lin, Anna Nordqvist and Thailand's Jaravee Boonchant blitzed the Siam Country Club Old Course to shoot seven-under-par (65) and take a one-shot lead after the opening round. But they were not alone in the spotlight as three other players were tied in second on six-under par (66) – Maja Stark, Jenny Shin and Lilla Vu.

Nasa Hataoka, the 24-year-old Japanese player from Kasama City in Ibaraki Prefecture, had just one bogey in her round of 65, mixed with four birdies on the front nine and four on the back nine. She said she was happy with her start and would take it one day at a time from here. "I hit really good iron shots out there and I hit really good putts too."

Looking ahead, she added: "This is the first day, so three more days to go. You know, I will just do my best with what I'm doing right now, focus on what I've been working on, and hopefully put together another good round of golf tomorrow. And about the course, well, there are some challenging holes here, especially around the greens, it's very challenging.”

Jennifer Kupcho, world No. 15 and 2022 Chevron Championship winner, said she felt like she could have done even better than her opening round of 65. She had five birdies and made eagle on the par-5 10th. She said afterwards of the eagle-three: "Yeah, I mean, I hit a really good drive and had a pretty short club in." I believe it was a hybrid, but it was a perfect club that hit just short of the green and rolled up really close for a tap-in."

Twenty-six-year-old Xiyu Lin, who did so well here last year when she finished runner-up, said: "This is only the second tournament of the year, but I had a pretty good warm-up last week, so I entered this week pretty confident.”

"Obviously, I like this course, so at the start of the day, I didn't give myself a lot of time to ease into my game, and then of course, on the front nine, my putting wasn't very hot. I had some good shots but they missed by a little bit here and there, so my shots ended up pretty average. I know this course. You're going, and all of a sudden you have a streak, and that's what happened on my back nine – six birdies without a blemish – so I'm very happy."

Jaravee, a 23-year-old hometown favourite, was beaming with delight at finishing the day joint top of the leaderboard. She said: "It's amazing obviously. I'm very happy with how I played today. I like how I hit my shots and how I gave myself opportunities to make birdie putts, so I'm pretty happy with how it all worked out today."

Speaking about what really stood out for her among the eight birdies and one bogey on her card, she added: "I think my putter really helped me today. There are a lot of putts that I didn't expect to go in, like the last one, so I'm very grateful for my putter right now."

Commenting on her being in the field, she said: "Last year was my first time playing here, in a LPGA event with crowds, so it kind of gave me a heads-up of what this week would be like. But obviously this year, the crowds are even bigger, but I think last years’ experience really helps."

Three-time major winner Anna Nordqvist said she was happy to be part of the logjam at the top of the standings and was proud of her effort so far. "I think it was a really good round and I felt like I was hitting it solidly. I had quite a few birdie opportunities close by. I tried to take advantage of the par-5s that I could reach, too. Overall, I feel the course is playing a little bit softer than when at its toughest. In general, I feel like I gave myself a lot of good looks today."

Speaking about what really helped her, she added: "I've been working so hard on my ball striking, putting, basically everything this off-season. I didn't feel very good with my swing going into the first event (of the season) at Lake Nona, but I grinded. I ended up changing the shafts on my irons a couple weeks ago, and I feel like that’s been helping me. I feel like today my irons were really good."

Maja Stark, who stole the show on day one with a pair of eagle two hole-outs on the card, said: "I didn't hit the best drives, but they weren't even full shots. I had like a half swing 9-iron, so I just gripped it down on both of them. So the 9-iron is probably my favourite club. I didn't aim for the pin but pushed them, both of them, and they just bounced and rolled right in."

After the first hole-out on No. 5, Stark added: "I thought to just keep going, keep playing aggressively, but still smart, because you can really end up short-sided on a lot of these holes. Then to have another one, two holes later, I was shocked. When we made the one on No. 5, I said, 'wow', it's been so long since I had a hole-out. Then on 11, I said to my caddie, 'oh, let's make another one as a joke' and it went in as well.”

About getting off to this hot start, Stark said: "I think it's the irons since there are lots of run-offs. The greens are pretty small. They might look big, but there are lots of run-offs that start on the green. So one of those things is definitely being able to hit it where you want to. I didn't feel like I putted that well today, but thanks to good iron play, I managed to get a few birdies."

This is the 16th edition of the Honda LPGA Thailand, and it carries prize money of US$1.7 million, of which the winner will receive US$255,000. The field includes 72 of the world's best women's golfers and invitees, who will also be keen on the all-new Honda Accord e:Hev TECH, the prize for a hole-in-one on the 16th hole at Siam Country Club Old Course, Pattaya this week. The tournament ends on Sunday and is featuring the first return of fans since the pandemic.

Golf fans can tune in to live broadcasts and streaming of the event on the Official Broadcast Host PPTV HD 36 and their digital platforms: www.pptvhd36.com, Facebook, YouTube and the PPTVHD36 app over the four days of the tournament.

For more information and updates on the Honda LPGA Thailand 2023, visit www.hondalpgathailand.com or follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lpgaThailand or Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/hondalpgathailand.