NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Lauren Coughlin confirmed her familiarity with Shadow Creek by beginning Thursday with a 5-under 67 on the Aramco Championship, transferring her right into a three-way tie for first with Nasa Hataoka and British Girls’s Open champion Miyu Yamashita.
Coughlin performed 127 holes at Shadow Creek final yr when the match was match play, with each match contesting at the very least distance. She completed second to Madeleine Sagstrom.
The Aramco Championship is collectively sanctioned with the Women European Tour, which is sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s nationwide oil firm and helps the Aramco Sequence, which attracts LPGA gamers wherever they play all over the world. This week’s prize pool was $4 million, and the match moved to stroke play.
“I really feel like I do know this place fairly nicely. I have been in a number of locations I do not need to be, so…I simply know the spots the place I must hit a number of pins and the place to overlook if I’ve to keep away from,” stated Coughlin, who did not drop a shot till the ninth and ultimate gap.
“Properly, I am glad I did not must play seven rounds in 5 days like final yr,” she stated.
Nelly Korda and Kim Hyo-joo are tied once more, at the very least on the scoreboard. Korda made an eagle on the par-5 18th gap and shot a 68, whereas Kim made bogey on the primary gap however did not drop a shot the remainder of the way in which and shot a 68.
Kim has received the final two weeks on the LPGA Tour, with Korda ending runner-up every time. No participant within the final 25 years has had a 1-2 file in consecutive weeks on the LPGA.
Shadow Creek has been on the LPGA schedule since 2021, however has been match play for the previous 5 years. Now an Aramco occasion, this legendary course attracts the highest 20 ladies’s world rankings.
“It’s superb,” Coughlin stated of the sturdy discipline. “And we’ve a very nice golf course that exams each a part of your sport.”
Kim received the Founders Cup in Sharon Heights in Northern California and likewise received the Ford Championship in Arizona final week. The 30-year-old Korean is aiming for a 3rd consecutive win. The final participant to perform that was Korda in 2024, on a five-game profitable streak as a starter. Her three-week profitable streak that yr additionally got here at Shadow Creek.
Jin Yan additionally shot a 68, closing in on the lead by one stroke. The course may have been robust if gamers have been out of place, however 10 gamers have been capable of break 70.
