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| -8 A Furue (Jpn); -7 N Korda (US), B Henderson (Can); -6 C Knight (US); -5 JY Ko (Kor), L Ko (NZ), C Hull (Eng), Y Nishimura (Jpn), P Delacour (Fra) |
| Selected others: -3 A Thitikul (Tha), HJ Kim (Kor), J Ewart (Eng); -2 N Hataoka (Jpn), G Hall (Eng); -1 J Kupcho (US), MJ Lee (Aus), M Reid (Eng), C Thomas (Eng) |
Japan’s Ayaka Furue hit an eight-under-par 63 to take a one-shot lead in the first round of the Evian Championship.
The 22-year-old, who finished fourth in the tournament last year, birdied four of the last five holes in Evian-les-Bains, France.
She edged ahead of American Olympic gold medallist Nelly Korda and Canada’s Brooke Henderson, who fired matching 64s.
England’s Charley Hull is a further two shots back and tied for fifth.
Furue’s 63 is tied for the second-lowest round ever played in Evian and is also tied for the third-lowest round in the history of women’s major championships.
“I like the course, and with the good vibes from last year I thought I would play good,” said Furue.
Hull, 26, is making her ninth appearance at the tournament and she feels her experience is helping her.
“I played pretty solid all day, but it’s a major and there are three more rounds, so anything can happen,” Hull said.
“This course can be tricky to score around, but after eight or nine years you start to figure it out.”
Australia’s Minjee Lee, who won her first major title in a play-off at the Evian Championship last year, sits seven shots off the leader.
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