By Carey Van Lue

Portland Classic

Columbia Edgewater Country Club | Portland, Oregon| August 31- September 3, 2023

First-Round Notes

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Course Setup: 36-36–72; 6,291

Scoring Average: R1: 70.820

Weather: Persistent and widespread rainfall throughout the day with 0.25” – 0.50” of measurable rain; Temperatures in the mid-to-low 60s with weak variable winds up to 4-6 mph

Race to CME Globe Points: 500 points (winner)

Purse: $1,500,000 (winner’s portion is $225,000)

TV/Streaming Times: How to Watch

PERRINE DELACOUR EMBRACES RAINY DAY IN PORTLAND TO TAKE 18-HOLE LEAD

After three days of sunny and dry conditions at Columbia Edgewater Country Club, the first round of the Portland Classic consisted of steady rainfall throughout the day that softened the course and gave the 144-player field a new challenge to overcome compared to their practice rounds. It was Frenchwoman Perrine Delacour who fared the best in the wet conditions, shooting a bogey-free 63 that began with six birdies in her first seven holes. Starting early Thursday morning, Delacour made a birdie off the bat on No. 1, then added five straight on 3-7. Going out in 30, she made six pars in a row before adding three more birdies at the end of her day on 14, 15 and 17. It was a round that most players would be very aware of, but for Delacour it was just another day “in the zone.”

“I wasn’t really paying attention on how many birdies I was making. I started with birdie on 1 and I was playing pretty solid all day. I was just keep focusing on trying to make as much as I can,” said Delacour of her career-best first-round score on the LPGA Tour. “I didn’t know what was my score at some point. When you’re in that zone you don’t realize your score and you’re just not scared of anything. You go to every pin and you know it’s going to be fine.”

An 11-year LPGA Tour veteran, this is the first time Delacour has held an 18-hole lead and only the second time she has held a post-round lead on the LPGA Tour. Just behind her on the leaderboard is America Gina Kim, who shot a career-low round of 64 on Thursday. A 2022 LPGA Tour rookie, Kim struggled on Tour during her first season, making just four cuts in 13 starts. But, Kim found success on the Epson Tour in 2022 with one win and three additional top-10 finishes, maintaining her status on the LPGA Tour for the 2023 season by finishing in the top-10 in the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card. She hasn’t seen quite the success she’s hoped for in her sophomore season – Kim has made five cuts in 15 starts with a best finish of T17 at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro – but the 23-year-old says she will continue to chase her dreams on Tour. Her low round in Portland, consisting of eight birdies and no bogeys, gives her the confidence to do so.

“I’m really excited. You know, I think today was where I was able to see a lot of my hard work pay off. It’s been tough this whole season, and I kept grinding through it. I kept believing in myself that maybe, you know, one of these days I’m going to be able to catch a good round like this,” Kim said. “So it’s nice to hit the ground running out here. I’m feeling good. I like the golf course. It fits my eye. So it’s really exciting. Love to break records.”

At T3 and -7 are three players; eight-time LPGA Tour Champion Nelly Korda, 2023 Tour winner Linn Grant and German golfer Olivia Cowan, who is coming off a fifth-place finish, her best in Tour, at the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Aviv Clinics. Defending champion Andrea Lee continued her good form at Columbia Edgewater with a first-round 66, putting her in a tie for sixth with last week’s CPKC Women’s Open winner Megan Khang and three other players.

A LOOK AT THE LEADER

Rolex Rankings No. 87 Perrine Delacour

• She hit 9 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens
  • Her nine birdies leads the field through 18 holes
  • Her five consecutive birdies from Nos. 3-7 matches her career-best streak, last recorded in the final round of the 2023 JM Eagle LA Championship (R4, Nos. 12-16)
• Her 9-under 63 is her second-best 18-hole score of her career, and new season-best
  • It also is her career-best first-round score
    • This is the third-straight time she’s opened with a round in the 60s at the Portland Classic
  • Her career-best is a 62, recorded in the second round of the 2017 Manulife Classic
  • Her previous season-best was a 64, recorded in the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
  • Her previous best score at the Portland Classic was a 69, recorded three times throughout 2020 and 2021
• Her 63 is two strokes off the tournament record set by Sei Young Kim in 2019 (R2, 61)
• Her 63 is also only her third round in the 60s since carding the 64 at the KPMG WPGA
• This is her fifth appearance in the Portland Classic
  • She finished in fourth in 2021, one of two made cuts in her previous starts in Portland
• This is her 16th event of the 2023 season
  • She’s earned on top-10 finish, a T9 result at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play
• This is her 11th season on the LPGA Tour (64)
  • She’s recorded five top-10 finishes in her career on Tour, including a career-best solo third at the 2020 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open
• She’s a two-time winner on the Epson Tour
• She represented France at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing T29

THINGS TO KNOW

• Gina Kim carded a new career-low 18-hole score to sit in solo second after day one
  • Her previous best was a 66, last recorded in the final round of the 2023 LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain
  • This is her first round in the 60s since an opening 69 at the 2022 Dana Open
    • It is only her sixth round in the 60s this season through 42 completed rounds
  • Since a T17 finish at the JM Eagle LA Championship, she has missed nine of 10 cuts heading into the Portland Classic
  • This was her second bogey-free round of the season
    • She carded her first in the final round of the JM Eagle LA Championship (67)
  • This is her first time competing in the Portland Classic
• Three players are in a tie for third: Nelly Korda, Linn Grant and Olivia Cowan
  • Korda’s 65 is her lowest 18-hole score since a third-round 64 at the Amundi Evian Championship, where she earned her last top-10 finish on Tour (T9)
    • Her 65 is also her first opening round in the 60s since the JM Eagle LA Championship in April
    • It’s her lowest first-round score since a 64 in R1 of the 2022 Amundi Evian Championship
  • This is Korda’s second appearance in the Portland Classic
    • She finished T31 in 2022
  • Grant’s first-round 65 is one off her season-best 18-hole score, a 64, which she recorded in R1 of her Dana Open victory
  • Cowan’s 65 is a new career-low score on Tour, besting her previous low score by two shots
    • She is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes, including a solo fifth at the ISPS Handa World Invitational, her career-best finish on the LPGA Tour
    • A 2022 Tour rookie, she is making her debut appearance in the Portland Classic
      • This is her fourth start on Tour this season
  • Cowan has played a majority of the year on the Ladies European Tour
    • She’s notched five top-10 finishes this year overseas in non co-sanctioned events (LPGA/LET)
• Last week’s CPKC Women’s Open winner Megan Khang and defending champion Andrea Lee are among five players in a tie for sixth at -6
• The six past champions in the field are a combined -15
  • Lee leads the past champions at -6
  • Two-time winner Brooke Henderson shot a -3, 69
  • Hannha Green, Georgia Hall and Stacy Lewis are -2 after Round 1
  • Marina Alex finished even on the day
• 2023 Juli Inkster Award winner Jenny Bae leads among the three sponsor invites at even par
  • Bae is a two-time Epson Tour winner this season
    • She also finished runner-up to Rose Zhang at the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur
  • Oregon State University player Kyra Ly is +2 after the first round
  • Major-champions Paula Creamer finished the day +3
• The par-5 No. 7 at Columbia Edgewater played the easiest during the first round
  • The scoring average during Round 1 was 4.36
  • There were 85 birdies and 5 eagles made on No. 7 on Thursday
• The par-4 No. 18 played the hardest on Thursday with a scoring average of 4.20
  • Only 11 birdies were made there and 36 bogeys or worse
• The Portland Classic is the longest running non-major tournament on the LPGA Tour
  • This is the 52^nd playing of the event

ROLEX RANKINGS WORLD NO. 1 PROJECTIONS – PORTLAND CLASSIC

Note – There may be additional possibilities with tie scenarios

Nelly Korda needs a solo fifth or better finish to have a chance to return to Rolex Rankings World No. 1 for the sixth time. Korda has spent 37 total career weeks at No. 1 since she first ascended to the top in June 2021.

Ruoning Yin needs a win or a solo second-place finish to have a chance to become No. 1 for the first time. Yin would be the second player from the People’s Republic of China to reach No. 1 following Shanshan Feng who was No. 1 for 23 consecutive weeks more than five years ago (November 13, 2017 to April 22, 2018).

World No. 2 Nelly Korda

• Win
• Solo second and have Lilia Vu finish solo third or worse and Ruoning Yin does not win
• Solo third and have Lilia Vu finish solo sixth or worse and Ruoning Yin does not win
• Solo fourth and have Lilia Vu finish solo 18th or worse and have Ruoning Yin finish solo third or worse
• Solo fifth and have Lilia Vu finish solo 66th or worse and have Ruoning Yin finish solo third or worse

A solo 66th or worse finish is equivalent to missing the cut as no points are earned beyond 65th place.

World No. 4 Ruoning Yin

• Win
• Solo second and have Lilia Vu finish solo seventh or worse and have Nelly Korda finish solo fourth or worse

QUOTABLE

Linn Grant (T2, -7) on the best part of her game after the first round at Columbia Edgewater:

“I think the best part is probably that even on a day like today, being tired this morning and going to the range and not quite feeling I had it and still being able to find something that works for me for the day, and then going out and still shoot a low score, I think that’s what I’ve been really good at the past couple weeks. Not getting too stressed when I’m not hitting the perfect shots or I’m not in control. Just going out with what I have for the day.”

Nelly Korda (T2, -7) on surprising Megan Khang in Portland following her win at the CPKC Women’s Open:

“Well, it was her first win and I knew that she was driving down. She missed the Drake concert and she’s been with me through a bunch of my wins so I really wanted to make sure — we’re really good friends — that she came home to a couple balloons, nice flowers from her boyfriend, and I just wanted to make her feel special. She played amazing golf that week and it’s an amazing accomplishment, and I just wanted to be there for her. I wasn’t there on 18 green.

Megan Khang (T6, -6) on playing in the wet conditions on Thursday

“You know, I remember in like junior golf we had a guest speaker at one of our tournaments, Tom Watson, and I remember him telling us like you can either go out there and say like, oh, it’s raining, this stinks, or you can go out there and say, hey, it’s raining for everyone. Just deal with it and make the best of the conditions. That’s the mentality I kind of take on now. Hearing that advice from a legend like him, I think that definitely helps mentally prepare myself. Like hey, it’s going to be wet. It’s going to be softer. It’s raining for everyone. Not just like a cloud over your head. Just go deal with it. Embrace Mother Nature a little bit.”

Angela Stanford (T11, -5) on keeping her competitive fire going since winning the Senior LPGA Championship this summer:

“So my instructor caddied for me that week, and I remember telling him, you know, I lost my confidence completely. But when I started thinking about it, it had nothing to do with golf. I didn’t know how to separate those two, and so I think now that I understand the grief part, how to deal with it, I think that’s — I certainly don’t take this for granted. I don’t think I ever did, but warming up this morning in the rain I’m like, why am I enjoying this? Nobody likes this. I’m just in such a better place that I just loved it today.”

NOTABLE

Delacour Makes Easy Work of Tough Conditions in Portland to Take Early Lead

Pagdanganan ‘Slipped a Couple Times’ in Rainy Portland En Route to Round of 67

Perrine Delacour Shoots 63 at Rainy Columbia Edgewater to Take Porland Classic Lead

Brooke Henderson First-Round Interview | 2023 Portland Classic

Megan Khang First-Round Highlights | 2023 Portland Classic

Andrea Lee First-Round Interview | 2023 Portland Classic

First-Round Highlights | 2023 Portland Classic – extended

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS

18 holes: 61, Sei Young Kim, second round, 2019

36 holes: 127, Hannah Green, 2017

54 holes: 197, Yealimi Noh, 2019

72 holes: 267 (-21), Hannah Green, 2019; Brooke Henderson, 2015

COURTESY LPGA COMMUNICATIONS