Patty Tavatanakit grabbed the opening round lead at the HSBC Women’s World Championship after the 2021 ANA Inspiration winner fired a flawless five-under 67 at the Sentosa Golf Club on Thursday.
– Singapore’s HSBC Women’s set for hot competition
The 22-year-old Thai sank in five birdies to be one stroke ahead of a trio that included two-time winner Park In-bee, fellow South Korean Kim A-lim and American Danielle Kang.
Top-ranked Ko Jin-young was in a big group at three-under, the South Korean recovering from a second hole double-bogey to card 69.
Ko has had a stellar season and the 26-year-old has recorded nine top-10 finishes in her last 10 starts that include five victories.
Others in that group include world number three Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Canadian Brooke Henderson and Thai Atthaya Thitikul.