Daily Times

BANGKOK: Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit carded a brilliant eight-under-par 64 to join compatriot Atthaya Thitikul in the lead after the opening round of the $1.6 million Honda LPGA Thailand on Thursday, with the pair ahead by a shot. ANA Inspiration winner Patty, who captured her maiden major last month in her rookie year on tour, rolled in the last of her nine birdies on the par-five 18th hole to surge ahead. The only blip for the 21-year-old on a sweltering day at the Siam Country Club in Chon Buri was a double-bogey on the sixth hole of the Pattaya Old Course. Another local favourite Ariya Jutanugarn, a two-times major winner, was tied-third alongside Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen after hitting 65 –– a double-bogey on the 18th ruining her chances of joining the pair at the top. South Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo, who won last week’s HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore as the LPGA returned to Asia for the first time in 18 months, was tied for 54th place after a disappointing round of 73.