Leona Maguire looked like she was getting back to the form that saw her post four successive top-10 finishes either side of the new year after a sublime opening 67 at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Maguire (-5) carded five birdies and no bogeys and she lies just two shots shy of a whopping five-way tie for the lead.
Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, Javaree Boonchant, Jennifer Kupcho, Xiyu Lin and Nasa Hataoka all share the lead on seven-under-par while Maguire lies in a huge eight-way share of ninth place.
After opening with six successive pars, the Cavan native went on a run of three birdies in four holes to kickstart her round. The world number 11 added two birdies on 15 and 18 to climb into the mix.
One of the leaders Kupcho, got the better of Maguire in a playoff last season and she was the only one of the five leaders to go bogey-free in her opening round with the highlight of her day being a tap in eagle on the par-5 10th.
“Yeah, I mean, I hit a really good drive and had a pretty short club in. I think still hybrid, but pretty perfect club, and it just like hit just short of the green and rolled up really close to a tap-in.”
The American also opened with three birdies in seven holes before finishing with successive gains to post a 65.
“I think it’s good that my game is I guess still there. I think if it was any other golf course maybe it wouldn’t be there, but I think I’m really comfortable with this place. I played really well last year. It’s fairly short, so I don’t really have to hit long clubs and that’s definitely where I struggle if I have to hit those after not practicing.
“So that’s cool, too.”
Scoring HERE
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