Japan’s Aki Iwai carded a bogey-free 63 in the first round Thursday to build a two-shot lead at the Evian Championship in Evian-les-Bains, France.
Iwai, 24, teed off in the morning wave and birdied five of her last eight holes at the Evian Resort Golf Club to finish at 8-under-par.
“I was able to have a good focus on my golf and stay committed. I prepared a lot around the green with chipping and putting. I was driving well, but honestly everything was good,” Iwai said. “I like driver, so if I’m good and consistent with my driver (it helps). I made the good score. I like this course, it’s similar to a course in Japan.”
France’s Perrine Delacour fired a 6-under 65 and is alone in second place at the fourth of this season’s five majors. She started on the back nine and eagled the par-5 15th hole to go with six birdies and two bogeys.
“I stayed patient all day long beside the heat. It was pretty hot out there, but I still stayed patient,” Delacour said. “Of course you’re going to make mistakes, but I bounced back really well, which I’m super proud of myself.”
Five players are tied for third at 5-under, one shot ahead of a group of seven players.
Nelly Korda, who won the year’s first two majors at the Chevron Championship and U.S. Women’s Open, is 11 shots behind the leader and tied for 102nd. Her round of 3-over 74 included two birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey at the par-4 first hole, her 10th of the day after starting her round on the back nine.
Korda will need to hustle to make the cut, which will include the top-65 players and ties at the end of Friday’s second round. A victory this week would be Korda’s fifth major and would also put the 27-year-old into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
England’s Charley Hull, Sweden’s Maja Stark, Japan’s Mao Saigo and South Koreans Haeran Ryu and Jin Hee Im all are tied for third.
Stark had a streak of birdies on Nos. 14-16 during her bogey-free round.
“I felt very steady the whole round, I hit some good irons, better irons than usual and every tee shot here freaks me out. I just thought we have to go for it, so it was pretty stress-free,” Stark said.
“I had good game in me, so I knew I was going to get more chances and some of putts felt like a couple of bonuses. Everyone has such different opinions about this place, but I love it because it really challenges me in things I need to be challenged in.”
The group at 4-under includes Lottie Woad and Cara Gainer of England and Canada’s Brooke Henderson, who won the Evian Championship in 2022.
“I played pretty solid,” Woad said. “I was in the fairway a lot and hit a lot of greens and was 5 under early on and then there are a few tricky holes on the front nine that I played, so I dropped a few there, but it was a nice finish with the eagle to get it back to 4 under.”
