PHOENIX – Temperatures soared as players went low in the opening round of the JTBC Founders Cup in Arizona. Sei Young Kim and Brittany Lang climbed to the top of the leaderboard during Thursday’s morning wave, and while the duo started the day on opposite nines, they ended with the same result, carding matching rounds of 9-under par, 63 to tie the Tournament scoring record at Wildfire Golf Club.
The round is a personal best for Kim, who had previously shot a career low 65 on six occasions in 2015. The 2015 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year played alongside Gerina Piller and Anna Nordqvist on Thursday, who also played well, carding 7-under par, 65’s.
“I think I play well today because I shot better than the last couple of tournaments because I struggled with my shots,” Kim said after her round. “I was a little confident with my shots, my swing. Yeah, but after last week, I played a little more better. So I did best today.”
Decked head to toe in green, Lang was lucky on St. Patrick’s Day, matching her personal best of 63 which she previously shot at the 2012 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. She missed just one fairway and one green on Thursday as she continued to build on the momentum she found in Singapore, where she shot a final round 7-under par, 65.
“I just felt like I needed to get back to one shot at a time, and I felt like I was thinking too much about stuff that doesn't matter, and I've been working on my alignment with my swing, and I had excellent balance all day, just hitting my finish and staying down in my putts and just really seeing what I wanted and was super confident and decisive today. So pretty much everything was working,” Lang told the media after her round.
Click here to watch Lang's post-round interview.
Click here for scores from round one of the JTBC Founders Cup.
)
)
)
