GALLOWAY, New Jersey - Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand fired a 10-under-par 61 to tie the course record at the Bay Course at Seaview, establishing a two-shot lead after one round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic on Friday.
The Saraburi native rode a hot stretch in the middle of her round to the low number, but Jenny Shin of South Korea is on her tail in second place after an 8-under 63. Fellow Korean Narin An is in third after a 64.
Arpichaya was having a dismal second year on the LPGA Tour with a streak of six straight missed cuts before last week’s US Women’s Open, where she went 68-69 on the weekend for a surprising fifth-place finish.
Now the 22-year-old, who won the gold medal at Asian Games last October in China, is in command at this weekend’s 54-hole event.
“I feel like I just started to play golf, happy golf, like every hole,” Arpichaya said after her round. “Because I feel like my (confidence) is coming back from last week in the US Women’s Open. It was the greatest week in my life and it made me more confident for this week.”
Arpichaya started her day on the back nine and made four straight pars before a birdie at the par-4 14th opened the floodgates. It was the first of four consecutive birdies, and she chipped in for eagle at the par-5 18th to make it a 6-under stretch.
She added four birdies on her front nine, with a long, downhill putt falling for birdie at the par-3 seventh. That made 59 a possibility before she finished with two pars.
“I (shot) 10 under one time in my life, in Thailand, but not in a big tournament like this,” Arpichaya said. “Actually, I tried to go birdie on the last hole because I tried to get a new record for myself. Like, I can do 11. But I missed the putt a little bit.”
Shin racked up nine birdies with just one bogey on Friday and was relieved to be playing a more scoreable course than last week’s setup at the US Women’s Open, where only a handful of players finished below par.
“It wasn’t as mentally taxing as the last 10 days,” Shin said. “And the fact that I’ve been here so many years, just the familiarity and, you know, familiar crowds as well.”
An was 1 under through her first 10 holes before sinking six birdies from the second to ninth holes to shoot up the leaderboard.
Brittany Lincicome, 38, is part of a tie for fourth after shooting a bogey-free, 6-under 65. The American veteran won the tournament in 2011 and is glad to be back in a familiar place
“Both my girls are here. We have a great time,” Lincicome said. “We are staying down in Ocean City. We go to this amusement park on the Boardwalk almost every night and spend so much money just to let them ride rides.”
Also tied at 65 are Megan Khang, Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela, Taiwan’s Wei-Ling Hsu, Japan’s Nasa Hataoka, Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou and South Korea’s Jeongeun Lee5.
Defending champion Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa opened with a 4-under 67. Japan’s Yuka Saso, last week’s winner at the US Women’s Open, shot a 2-under 69.