HONOLULU — Natthakritta Vongtaveelap led the fifth and sealed it with a birdie in a fading light in Class 9 for a 6-under 66 and a share of Wednesday’s first-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s LOTTE Championship.
“Very surprised. Excited,” said the 20-year-old Thai player of the closing chip at sunset.
She had a bogey-free run at the windswept Hoakalei Country Club to join fellow afternoon rookie Freda Kinholt atop the leaderboard.
Vongtaveelap is starting her second LPGA tour. In February, she won her first two events as a professional on the Thai LPGA Tour, then came runner-up to Lilia Vu on the LPGA Thailand in her big tour debut.
“I feel good, I feel good about myself,” said Vongtavilap, adding that she hopes to play as well over the next three days.
Kinholt finished a bogey in ninth place, the only drawback for the 23-year-old Swede in difficult conditions.
“Just tried to be patient there, with a real shot in that wind,” Kinholt said. “(I did) a lot of math in my head, so I’ll probably sleep well tonight. Very happy with the start and keep it up for the rest of the week.”
The former Florida State player pared the seven-hole par-5 from No. 18 to No. 6, with three of the five birdies par-5.
“It was very solid. Nothing really crazy happened,” said Kinholt. “Just over the course of the day, I tried to hit a few fairways, and then I think I hit most of the greens, which is helpful in these winds.”
Defending champion Heo Joo Kim was 68 with fellow rookies Nasa Hataoka, Billy Tardy and linebacker Yoo Jin Sung.
Kim had eight sparrows and four bogeys.
“The racquet worked really well, and that resulted in a low score,” said Kim. “The swings were good. I actually made a lot of mistakes, but I was just thinking I should make more birdies to cover that.”
Hinako Shibono, the Japanese player who finished second last year, was under 6 before hitting the water and making a triple bogey 7 on the 6th hole. She hit the last three for 69.
“I didn’t have that much strategy, but I just wanted to be a friend of the wind,” said Shibono. “I tried.”
Brooke Henderson, the No. 7 seed, the highest-ranked player in the field, opens with a score of 71. The Canadian is the only multiple winner in tournament history, taking the 2018 and 2019 titles in Ko Olina.
“It’s very windy, which makes this golf course a real challenge,” Henderson said. “So, it was kind of hard not to make a bogey there. I think the only way to really counter is just to make a bunch of birds.”
The Chevron Championships, the first women’s major, takes place next week in Houston.