A double-bogey on her 16th hole on Thursday hampered Ashleigh Buhai’s scoring in the first round of the LPGA Tour’s Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, but she still signed for a two-under-par 70.
On a crowded leaderboard, she was in a share of 21st after 18 holes in the 54-hole tournament. Korea’s A Lim Kim occupied the top of the leaderboard after her opening six-under-par 66. She led by one from five players on five-under, and there were three in a share of seventh on four-under-par.
Buhai started her round on the 10th hole, and she made two birdies before she turned. She picked up another on the fifth hole, before she made her double on the par-four seventh. She bounced back with a birdie on the eighth and parred the last.
She was in a share of 21st with 22 other players, including fellow-South African Paula Reto. Reto also started her round on the 10th, and she had an eventful round which included an eagle, four birdies and four bogeys. It was particularly eventful around the turn as she made bogey on 15 and 17, eagle on 18, and then three birdies and two bogeys on holes one to five. She closed things off with a birdie on nine.
It was a good start for Kim, whose lone LPGA title remains that 2020 US Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club played in December that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She is number 65 in the Race to CME Globe, and only has two tournaments left to crack the top 60 and earn a spot in the season finale that pays $4-million to the winner.
