LPGA TOUR NEWBIES SIT ATOP LEADERBOARD AT THE DANA OPEN

LPGA Tour sophomore Linn Grant and rookie Jaravee Boonchant separated themselves from a crowded leaderboard at 7-under in their opening round at the Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club. Starting her day off on No. 10, Grant stayed even through the first six holes before recording three-straight birdies to close out her front nine. She carried that momentum onto her back nine with two more birdies on Nos. 2 and 6 and closing out her first round with back-to-back birdies for seven on the day for a bogey-free 64.

“Well, I felt like I was playing good the first six holes, but I just couldn’t get the putts to go in,” Grant said about her start. “Then coming down with those two par-5s in the end, I’m quite confident when it comes to par-5s. I like those. So just, you know, hitting some good short game shots, and especially two really good 3-woods.”

Boonchant teed off in the afternoon wave at Highland Meadows, this time with a share of the lead. The Thai native did not have as clean of a card as Grant, recording two bogeys, but set the tone for her round early with an eagle on her first hole. From there, she carded three additional birdies on her front and added four more on the back, including three-straight on holes 2,3 and 4.

“I think it would be my approach shot,” Boonchant explained on what was clicking for her. “Like my irons are really doing the work today and just put me in a position that I could have a chance to make a birdie. My putter is rolling really well today, too, so that really help. Yeah, I guess I’m trying not to look at the leaderboard too much and just focus on my game and take one shot at a time. I think that was going to be the plan for the whole week.”

One-stroke off the leaders sit Ariya Jutanugarn and Emily Pederson, both ending with a 6-under, 65 and tied for third. Jutanugarn finished with a clean scorecard, carding seven birdies, including ones on back-to-back holes 11 and 12. Pederson also recorded seven birdies including a set of back-to-back birdies on holes 7, 8, 15 and 16. Her lone blemish – a bogey – came on No. 5.

Nine players positioned themselves tied for fifth at a 5-under, 66. Tour rookies Rose Zhang, Bailey Tardy and Xiaowen Yin are joined by Aditi Ashok, Linnea Johansson, Matilda Castren, Linnea Strom, Xiyu Lin, Kelly Tan and Xiaowen Yin. Ashok, Tan and Zhang all finished with clean scorecards and five birdies each. Castren joined Boonchant as one of three players to record an eagle in their opening round. Lin, Yin and Johansson all carded six birdies while Tardy and Strom share a tie for first among the field with seven carded birdies with Strom capping her opening round with four-straight.

“I think it’s very crucial, because once you hit the fairway it’s a lot of wedges, and with it playing this soft you can kind of pretty much go at the pin and it’ll stop right there,” Pederson said about taking advantage of scoring opportunities. “So, if you’re in the fairway, I feel like you have an opportunity to make a lot of birdies.

2022 Dana Open champion Gaby Lopez ended her opening round with three birdies and two bogeys at 1-under, 70. No. 1 Rolex Rankings Jin Young Ko, in her Dana Open debut, recorded three birdies and a bogey finishing at 2-under 69. Monday qualifier and 15-year-old Mia Hammond positioned herself at 3-under 68 after carding five birdies and two bogeys in her first round.

A LOOK AT THE LEADERS

Rolex Rankings No. 28, Linn Grant (T1, 64)

• Grant hit 13 of 14 fairways, 13 of 18 with 24 putts
  • Her 24 putts has her tied for the fourth lowest of the field in the opening round
  • She carded seven birdies in her opening round, tied for the most among the field
    • Her season-high for carded birdies in one event is 15, which she has done in three of the four stroke-play events she has competed in
• 64 is her lowest round of the season by three strokes, and ties her career-low round
  • Her previous season-low opening round was a 69 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship
  • She shot 67 in the second round of that event earlier this year
  • She last shot a 64 in the final round of the 2022 Amundi Evian Championship
• This is the first time on Tour that Grant has held the 18-hole lead/co-lead
• This is Grant’s sixth event of the 2023 LPGA Tour season
  • This is her first time at the Dana Open
  • Her season-best finish is a tie for third at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play
  • She has not missed a cut all year and has finished inside the top-50 in all but one event this season
  • In May earlier this season, Grant grabbed her fifth Ladies European Tour win at the Jabra Ladies Open
• This is Grant’s second season as an LPGA Tour Member
  • Since 2018, she has made 14 starts and made the cut in 12 of those
    • Her only missed cut as a Member came at the 2022 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open
    • She has five career top-10 finishes
      • Her best stroke play result is a T3 finish at the 2022 TOTO Japan Classic

Rolex Rankings No. 153 Jaravee Boonchant (T1, 64)

• Boonchant hit 10 of 14 fairways, 13 of 18 greens with 23 putts
  • She was one of three players to card eagles in the opening round, and her first eagle of the season
  • She carded seven birdies, which puts her tied for first among the field
• This is the second time Boonchant has held the 18-hole lead/co-lead this season
  • She held it at the Honda LPGA Thailand, where she ultimately finished in a tie for 17th
• Her 64 at Highland Meadows is a new career-low 18-hole score on Tour
  • She has only shot four rounds in the 60s this year
    • Her last round in the 60s was her closing round at the JM Eagle LA Championship in April (67)
• Boonchant is a 2023 LPGA Tour rookie
  • This is her 13th event of the year
    • She has missed the cut six times, including her last four
    • Her season-best result is a tie for ninth at the JM Eagle LA Championship
• This is Boonchant’s second appearance at the Dana Open
  • As an amateur, she played in the 2021 event and missed the cut
• On the Epson Tour, Boonchant made 13 cuts in 16 starts in 2022
  • She won the 2022 Epson Tour Championship and recorded three additional top-10 finishes
  • She has made $76,543 in career earnings
  • She finished T21 at the LPGA Q-Series to first earn Membership for the 2023 season
• Boonchant turned professional in December of 2021
  • She first earned Epson Tour Membership by completing 72 holes at Stage II of the 2021 LPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament
  • In 2021, she won her first professional title at the BGC Thailand LPGA Masters
• She played collegiately at Duke University
  • She was a four-time All-American, three-time All-ACC selection and a member of the 2019 NCAA Championship team

THINGS TO KNOW

• There were 14 bogey-free rounds on Thursday

• Ariya Jutanugarn’s 65 has her in a tie for second at -6
  • This is her lowest 18-hole score since a second-round 64 at the Meijer LPGA Classic
    • She finished solo second that week, her best result on Tour since her win alongside sister Moriya at the 2021 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational
  • Her 65 is her lowest opening round score since a first-round 65 in her win at the 2021 Honda LPGA Thailand, and is her new career-best first-round score at the Dana Open
    • This is her fifth start in the event; in the last three years, she’s recorded two top-15 finishes, including a tie for second in 2016
  • This is her 13th official event of the 2023 season, and she is coming off a missed cut at the U.S. Women’s Open
• Emily Pedersen’s 65 is a new career-low 18-hole and opening-round score on Tour (T2, -6)
  • Her previous low was a 66, recorded five other times, including in the first round of the 2022 Dana Open
  • This is her fifth start at the Dana Open
    • Her career-best finish in Sylvania is a tie for 20th in 2017
  • This is her 11th Tour event of the season
    • Her season-best finish is a tie for 16th at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain
• Nine players are tied for fifth at -5
  • Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational partners Matilda Castren and Kelly Tan both shot 66s
    • Castren tied her season-low 18 hole score, last recorded in the second round of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain
    • Tan recorded her lowest 18-hole score since the fourth round of the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship in 2022
  • Epson Tour graduate Linnea Strom’s 66 is her best opening round on Tour since a 66 at the 2020 ISPS Handa Vic Open
  • Xiaowen Yin, Bailey Tardy and Rose Zhang are making their Dana Open debuts
    • Tardy is coming off a career-best finish at the U.S. Women’s Open, a tie for fourth
    • Tardy’s 66 is the second-best 18-hole score of her Tour career
    • This is Zhang’s second bogey-free round of the season
      • Zhang’s first came in the second round of her win at the Mizuho Americas Open
      • Zhang’s only other bogey-free round in any career Tour start was in R2 of the Amundi Evian Championship, when she carded a 3-under 68
    • Zhang is coming off her third-straight top-10 finish on Tour at the U.S. Women’s Open (T9)
  • Aditi Ashok recorded her sixth bogey-free round of the year
    • Three of her bogey-free rounds this season were recorded at the Meijer LPGA Classic
    • Her 66 ties her lowest 18-hole score on Tour and is her best score since a 63 at the 2022 LPGA Drive On Championship
      • She was one of three players to hit every fairway on Thursday
    • This is her sixth start at the Dana Open
      • Her career-best finish in the event is a tie for eighth in 2017
      • She has missed the cut the last two years in Sylvania
    • This is her 12th event of the season
      • Since missing the cut in her first three starts this year, Ashok has earned three top-10 finishes, including a tie for second at the JM Eagle Championship where she and Xiyu Lin ultimately fell to Hannah Green in a playoff
      • She’s competed in four events on the Ladies European Tour this year, and has earned three top-three finishes including a win at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open; she currently ranks second on the Race to Costa del Sol
  • Linnea Johanson’s 66 is her second-lowest opening round of the season
    • She recorded a career-low 64 in the first round of the JM Eagle LA Championship
    • This is her third appearance in the Dana Open
      • She missed the cut in 2021 and finished T74 in 2020
    • This is her fourth season on Tour
      • She has never finished inside the top 10
      • Her career-best result is a tie for 24th alongside playing partner Frida Kinhult at 2022 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational
  • Xiyu Lin’s 66 is her fourth-straight opening round in the 60s
    • Lin is coming off a T13 finish at the U.S. Women’s Open after two tie for thirds at the Meijer LPGA Classic and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

• Last week’s major champion and Rolex First-Time Winner Allisen Corpuz is in a tie for 14th at -4, as well as Rolex Rankings No. 3 Lydia Ko
• 15-year-old Monday qualifier Mia Hammond carded a 3-under 68 in her LPGA Tour debut (T27)
  • Hammond is a native of New Albany, Ohio, and has her father as her caddie this week
• In her tournament debut, Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko finished T39 at -2 after Thursday
• Defending champion Gaby Lopez currently sits in a tie for 60th (-1)
• Jenny Shin withdrew during the first round of the Dana Open (no reason given)

QUOTABLE
Monday qualifier Mia Hammond (T27, -3) on competing in the qualifier then preparing for this event:

“Yeah, there’s parts of my game that I’ve always struggled with. Putting is definitely the biggest thing for me, so over the past couple days I’ve been trying to get the feel for the stroke, get the speed of the greens down. That’s always, like I said, been my biggest struggle, having that extra I guess thing to fall back on, which is typically my ball striking, it’s never really left me. It’s just kind of nice like when you’re hitting it closer to the hole it’s like, oh, it’s okay if you miss a putt here or there. It’s relaxing.”

Rose Zhang (T5, -5) on going from two major championships to this event where historically, it’s a low scoring tournament:
“100%. Well, I think the game of golf, pars are never bad. You know, when you’re out here you do have to make sure that you’re giving yourself as many birdie opportunities as possible. So just making sure that I’m putting the ball where I need to in the fairway, on the green, and then trying to give myself those chances I think is the most crucial. And I’ve played in collegiate events this year. A lot of events require a lot of, you know, races to quote-unquote 20-under par. That dynamic I’m very familiar with, so anyone coming from behind can play well, anyone in the lead can continue to play well. So just being sure I’m doing my own thing and playing well is basically what I’m trying to do.”

Aditi Ashok (T5, -5) on what she looks forward to taking advantage of after playing this course:

“Yeah, I think obviously there is just two par-5s instead of four, so I think it’s more about hitting good approaches, at least that’s my focus for the week. I know if I’m in position with my putting I should be able to make a few birdies, so that’s what I’ve been focusing on.”

NOTABLE
Linn Grant Grabs Share of First-Round Lead at Highland Meadows

Boonchant Holes Out For Eagle on Her Second Shot of the Round Shares the Lead in the Dana Open

Rose Zhang Right Back at it at Dana Open

Full Dana Open Leaderboard After Round 1

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS:

18 holes: 60, Paula Creamer (2008, R1)

36 holes: 125, Paula Creamer (2008)

54 holes: 194, Nasa Hataoka (2021)

72 holes: 261, Se Ri Pak (1998)

COURTESY LPGA TOUR COMMUNICATIONS