Five golfers fired opening-round 65s to share the lead through 18 holes of the LPGA Thailand at Pattaya Old Course at Siam Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand.
Playing with temperatures in the 90s, the event field posted an average score of 69.3, led by the grouping that posted scores of 7–under: Thai Jaravee Boonchant, Anna Nordqvist (Sweden), Nasa Hataoka (Japan), Xiyu Lin (China) and Jennifer Kupcho (United States).
Boonchant, who is from Bangkok, is in her first season on tour following a four-time All-America career at Duke. She earned membership by finishing in the top-45 and ties at 2022 LPGA Q-Series.
“My putter really helped me,” said Boonchant, who played in the event last year on a sponsor’s exemption. “There is a lot of putts that I didn’t even expect it to go in, like the last one, and I’m very grateful for my putter right now. I’m very happy with how I played today. I like how I hit my shots and how I gave myself an opportunity to make birdie putts, to have a birdie putt, so I’m pretty happy with the plan today.”…