Singapore: Thailand's Chanettee Wannasaen is two shots off the pace after the first round of the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore yesterday.
Chanettee shot a bogey-free two-under-par 70 to stay two shots behind surprise leader Sarah Schmelzel of the United States at Sentosa Golf Club.
The 20-year-old Thai is at tied fifth place alongside Leona Maguire, Andrea Lee, Kim Hyo-Joo and Chun In-Gee.
World No.107 Schmelzel found herself a stroke clear at the head of the field after a four-under 68.
Top-ranked American Lilia Vu was in a three-way tie for second with Sweden's Linn Grant and Germany's Esther Henseleit.
South Korea's Ko Jin-Young, who is seeking an unprecedented treble of titles after winning the 2022 and 2023 editions, is three shots back from Schmelzel in a 13-way tie for 10th place on a stacked leaderboard.
Starting from the 10th and turning at one-over par, Schmelzel, who joined the LPGA Tour in 2019, carded five birdies on a fabulous closing nine to take an opening-round lead for the first time.
"I have not been in this position before," Shcmelzel told reporters. "But I guess there's a first time for everything. I'm excited. Let's see what happens next.
"This is my fifth [LPGA] year, so I'm just trying to get into contention more and get a little bit better every day," said the 29-year-old.
Vu expressed disbelief that no one posted lower than four-under-par around the 6,775-yard Tanjong course that hosts the tournament dubbed "Asia's major".
"I was surprised that the scores were so high. I always expect at least six-under to be the leader. But that shows you how tough the course is playing and it's a good challenge," said Vu.
Ariya Jutanugarn shot an even par 72 for a joint 23rd place while Patty Tavatanakit, who is chasing her third successive title, Pajaree Anannarukarn and Jasmine Suwannapura all shot 73 to share 30th place with third-ranked Celine Boutier of France, Jennifer Kupcho of the US and Lee Mi-Hyang of South Korea. bangkok post/afp