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CHANDLER, Ariz. — Charley Hull tore up the Cattail Course at the Whirlwind Golf Club Thursday morning to the tune of 9-under 63, her career-low round.
Ranked 10th in the world, Hull can now train her sights on a third career PGA Tour win, as she is the solo leader, a shot ahead of Nanna Koerstz Madsen and two clear of eight golfers tied for third at 7 under, a group that includes Brooke Henderson and Sei Young Kim.
The 2025 Ford Championship, the first LPGA stop back in the U.S. in more than six weeks, has a loaded field with all of the top 10, 19 of the top 20, and 40 of the top 50 in the Rolex Rankings having converged on this suburb near Phoenix.
The morning wave scored better, 69.49 to 70.41, almost a full stroke lower on average than those in the afternoon groups.
How did the rest of the top 10 players in the field fare?
World No. 1 Nelly Korda plodded along Thursday with two birdies, a bogey and a bunch of pars, but then turned it on, making three straight birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 14 and just missing another on 15. One last birdie on 17 gave Korda a 5-under 67. She’s right there in the hunt for a title defense on a course that could be a birdie-fest all week.
“They’re fun to play, but I wouldn’t say I would like to play it every week,” Korda said of the fast track. “But you have to pedal to the meal as well, but if you make one mistake, you fall so far behind. Obviously pars, you are going to have par somewhere, but you’re always trying to make birdies and always trying to stay aggressive, but if you become too aggressive, make a bogey, then you fall down the leaderboard quite a bit.”
Jeeno Thitikul, ranked second, is playing alongside Korda on the first two days. Thitikul opened with a birdie, closed with a birdie and signed for a 4-under 68.
The third-ranked player in the world, Lydia Ko, already a winner this season, posted a 4-under 68 playing in the morning wave. In the last few months, Ko played some of the famous golf courses in the world, including Augusta National, Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Lake Merced and Pasatiempo Golf Club.
Ruoning Yin shot 5-under 67, with four birdies in a five-hole stretch on her second nine (she started on No. 10).
Hannah Green, a three-time LPGA winner in 2024, is ranked fifth and has two top-10s in 2025 so far. She also shot a 4-under 68.
The sixth-ranked player, Lilia Vu, is making just her third start and first in the U.S. this season in Arizona this week. She posted a 6-under 66, with all six birdies coming during her final 12 holes of her round.
Ayaka Furue, ranked seventh, matched Vu’s 66 in her first round. She has two career wins and so far in 2025 has posted a second and a third. Starting on No. 10, Furue had four birdies on her first seven holes and six birdies in all.
Jin Young Ko is ranked eighth, but had the lowest score of all the top-10 golfers. She was 2 over with two to go but birdied the par-5 17th and then eagled the par-4 18th, holing out from the rough from 138 yards to post an even-par 72.
Ranked ninth, Hae-Ran Ryu has three career wins. So far in Arizona, she has seven birdies and two bogeys en route to a 5-under 67 to open her week.
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