Choi takes 1st-round lead at the Shanghai LPGA event

Shanghai (AP) — Hye-Jin Choi, aiming for her inaugural triumph on the LPGA Tour to join her 12 previous successes in her homeland, posted an 8-under 64 score Thursday to seize a three-stroke lead following the first round of the Shanghai competition. Her remarkable run consisted of four back-to-back birdies in her final nine holes.

Carlota Ciganda occupied second place after a 67, while defending champion Jeeno Thitikul, who clinched victory in a five-hole playoff against Minami Katsu at Sheshan Golf Club the previous year, finished tied for seventh after a 69. Thitikul secured her fourth LPGA title of the season and her 11th overall by triumphing at the LOTTE Championship in Hawaii earlier in the month.

This marks the sixth Buick LPGA Shanghai event and the first to be held at Sheshan Golf Club, a site that previously hosted the HSBC Champions tournament 11 times when it was a World Golf Championship event. Shanghai serves as the inaugural stop on the LPGA Tour's late-season Asian Swing, with additional tournaments scheduled in South Korea, Malaysia, and Japan over the following three weeks.