Charley Hull is fresh off a win and is tied for the LPGA lead. Nelly Korda is 2 behind

BELLEAIR, Fla. – Charley Hull, fresh from her first win in more than two years, didn’t lose her form from Saudi Arabia to Florida as she opened with a 6-under 64 on Thursday to share the lead with Jiwon Jeon after the first round of The Annika .

Nelly Korda hasn’t lost much because she has been out of competition for almost two months. The No. 1 player in the women’s world rankings had four birdies over her last five holes to salvage a 66.

Hull won the Aramco Team Series-Riyadh two weeks ago, a 54-hole tournament on the Ladies European Tour. It was her first title since winning in Texas on the LPGA Tour in 2022.

“I feel like I’ve played really, really well all year,” Hull said. “Sometimes you just forget how to win. So that kind of reminded me how to win.”

It was a great start for Jeon, especially her hole-in-one on the par-3 third hole at Pelican Golf Club. She also had six birdies to offset a pair of bogeys.

She hit a hybrid – the equivalent of a 4-iron – on the 182-yard third hole, and unlike some of her previous aces, she actually saw it go in.

“I had exactly the same distance on the last hole for the second shot, so I said to my caddy, ‘Like, you’re just going to hit the same shot?’ Then I hit it and then I saw it bounce and go into the hole,” she said. “It was really cool to see the hole-in-one actually go into the hole.”

Jeon is No. 98 in the Race to CME Globe, and this is the final tournament for players who place in the top 60 and qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship next week along Florida’s Gulf Coast in Naples.

Just reaching the finals is all that matters: whoever wins will claim a $4 million prize and be declared the Race to CME Globe Champion.

Even if she doesn’t make it, keeping her LPGA card is her top priority. The top 100 is assured of full status before 2025.

“Obviously I want to keep my card for next year, but I’m trying not to think about it too much,” she said. “I literally gave everything during the last three days of training. I’m trying to figure out what to do here and then really focus on each shot. And then I think today the work really paid off. I want to keep doing the same for the rest of the tournament.”

Korda tuned into The Annika by playing nine holes in the pro-am WNBA star Caitlin Clarkand she took her step towards the end. With back-to-back bogeys putting her back on par for the day, Korda ran down her streak of birdies and ended her day with chipping from the 18th green.

She last played on September 22 at the Kroger Queen City Championship, withdrawing from two events in Asia due to a neck injury. This was her first time running 18 holes in almost two months.

“I was definitely a little nervous on the first few holes, but just didn’t know what to expect from my game because I didn’t play too much,” Korda said. “Under pressure it is very different than when you just go on a cart by yourself and just play a round. But I’m quite happy with the way I played. Hit a few loose shots in the middle of the round, but other than that I mean that’s something I can work on.

Gemma Dryburgh and Mi Hyang Lee were one stroke behind with a score of 65. Lee entered the week at number 59, so this was a big step in ensuring she could extend her season.

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AP wave: https://apnews.com/hub/golf