Nelly Korda settles for a halve, while Megan Khang survives roller-coaster Day One at LPGA Match Play
Advertisement
.
— LPGA T-Mobile Match Play Presented by MGM Rewards (@LPGAMatchPlay)
The format has returned to round-robin play among the 16 groups of four players, so Korda still has a path to the knockout stage of the weekend.
But it was a typically wild day in this once-a-year format.
Albane Valenzuela was 5 down at the turn to Megan Khang before she stormed back to square the match through 16 holes. The pride of Rockland had to get up-and-down from behind the 17th green to avoid falling behind, and then the closing hole flipped.
Megan Khang, the pride of Rockland, survived blowing a 5-up lead to Albane Valenzuela before taking a 1-up victory Wednesday on the first day of the LPGA Match Play tournament in Las Vegas.
John Locher/Associated Press
Khang was still in the fairway playing her third shot and judged it perfectly off a backstop, the ball rolling out to 4 feet for a chance at par. Valenzuela went from a bunker to the back of the green, facing a 60-foot putt with a steep ridge halfway to the hole.
Advertisement
Her putt was an inch from catching the ridge. Her par putt had no chance and rolled out 12 feet, and she missed the bogey putt and conceded the match. Khang never had to putt.
'Happy to get the win, but in stressful fashion,' Khang said.
Megan Khang grinded it out for an opening win in Vegas 💪
— LPGA (@LPGA)
Hyo Joo Kim, coming off a playoff win last week in Phoenix, made short work of Bailey Tardy with an 8-and-7 victory, and Brooke Henderson also had an easy time, 6 and 5, over Leona Maguire of Ireland.
Jenny Shin had a tough loss, and not just because she had a 3-up lead. She was 1 up until A Lim Kim won the 17th with a birdie. On the final hole, Shin had a sharp-breaking putt from about 20 feet for birdie to win the match. She ran that 5 feet by and missed the par putt to lose.
Charley Hull of England was all square with Westborough's Alexa Pano until winning five straight holes on the back nine for a 5-and-3 victory.
Westborough native Alexa Pano watches her tee shot on the sixth hole during her loss to Charley Hull of England Wednesday in Las Vegas.
David Becker/Getty
Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, the No. 2 player in the women's world ranking, had a 6-and-5 win over Danielle Kang, who lives in Las Vegas and received a sponsor exemption.
Kang, battling back from injury, has fallen to No. 375 in the world.
Four of the top eight seeds lost their opening matches, including third-seeded Lydia Ko, 6 and 4, to Hira Naveed, who was first alternate two days ago.
'Having Lydia as the first girl to play, I knew I had the task at hand,' Naveed said. 'Just went out there and played fearless golf and hit some great shots and made putts, so that was good.'
Advertisement
The others to lose were Haeran Ryu, Ruoning Yin and Jin Young Ko.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Solheim Cup rivals grab lead in Dow Championship
Jennifer Kupcho and Leona Maguire shot a 10-under 60 in better-ball play to take the second-round lead in the Dow Championship. The Solheim Cup rivals posted a 13-under 127 total at Midland Country Club after opening with an alternate-shot 67 on Thursday, in the LPGA Tour's only team event. One final birdie for Leona Maguire sees the Irish Goodbyes finish with the clubhouse lead at -13 💥 — LPGA (@LPGA) June 27, 2025 "The plan today was just to give ourselves as many chances as we could, try to get two chances on every hole," said Irishwoman Maguire. "For the most part, we did that. It was nice to start off with a birdie and sort of an eagle very early on to get the ball rolling." They hold a one-stroke lead over Australian Cassie Porter and Gemma Dryburgh, the first-round leaders who parred the final six holes in a 62. The teams will play another alternate-shot round Saturday, and close with a better-ball round Sunday. "Lots of golf to go," said Kupcho, the 2022 winner with fellow American Lizette Salas. "I think just kind of staying where we're at and continuing what we're doing the best we can." The teams of Sarah Schmelzel-Albane Valenzuela (61), Manon De Roey-Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (61) and and Yan Liu-Yahui Zhang (62) are at 11 under. "It was a great round," Valenzuela said, "I feel like I definitely feed off Sarah's energy. She makes it really easy for me on the course." Lexi Thompson and Meghan Kang, tied for second after an opening 67, had a 65 to drop into a tie for ninth at eight under. "Fairways and greens, hole a few more putts," Thompson said. "That's the goal." Defending champions Ruoning Yin and Jeeno Thitikul, both among the top five in the women's world ranking, are at six under after a 66.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Jennifer Kupcho and Leona Maguire shoot a best-ball 60 to take the lead in the Dow Championship
MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) — Jennifer Kupcho and Leona Maguire shot a 10-under 60 in better-ball play Friday to take the second-round lead in the Dow Championship, the LPGA Tour's only team event. The Solheim Cup rivals had a 13-under 127 total at Midland Country Club after opening with an alternate-shot 67 on Thursday. Advertisement 'The plan today was just to give ourselves as many chances as we could, try to get two chances on every hole,' said Maguire, from Ireland. 'For the most part, we did that. It was nice to start off with a birdie and sort of an eagle very early on to get the ball rolling.' They had a one-stroke lead over Cassie Porter and Gemma Dryburgh, the first-round leaders who parred the final six holes in a 62. The teams will play another alternate-shot round Saturday, and close with a better-ball round Sunday. 'Lots of golf to go,' said Kupcho, the 2022 winner with fellow American Lizette Salas. 'I think just kind of staying where we're at and continuing what we're doing the best we can.' The teams of Sarah Schmelzel-Albane Valenzuela (61), Manon De Roey-Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (61) and and Yan Liu-Yahui Zhang (62) were 11 under. Advertisement 'It was a great round,' Valenzuela said, 'I feel like I definitely feed off Sarah's energy. She makes it really easy for me on the course.' Lexi Thompson and Meghan Kang, tied for second after an opening 67, had a 65 to drop into a tie for ninth at 8 under. 'Fairways and greens, hole a few more putts,' Thompson said. 'That's the goal.' Defending champions Ruoning Yin and Jeeno Thitikul, both among the top five in the women's world ranking, were 6 under after a 66. ___ AP golf: The Associated Press
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ireland's Maguire and American Kupcho seize LPGA pairs lead
Ireland's Leona Maguire, left, and American Jennifer Kupcho grabbed a one-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA Dow Championship pairs event (David Berding) Ireland's Leona Maguire and American Jennifer Kupcho combined to fire a 10-under par 60 in best-ball to grab the lead after Friday's second round of the LPGA Dow Championship pairs event. The back-nine starters united for eight birdies and an eagle to shoot the low round of the day at Midland Golf Club in Michigan and stand on 13-under 127 after 36 holes. Advertisement "We ham and egged it really well," Kupcho said. "She made a lot of really good putts today and yesterday also. We'll just keep it going." Scotland's Gemma Dryburgh and Australian rookie Cassie Porter, the 18-hole leaders, combined for a 62 to stand second, one shot back on 128. "We complement each other really well. We have different strengths and kind of play to those," Dryburgh said. "We got going on the front. We had a lot of good putts." Maguire birdied three of the last six holes, closing the round with six straight one-putt greens, and credited her partner with setting her up for a solid putting effort. Advertisement "Her length off the tee has been an advantage this week," Maguire said. "I think we're real fierce competitors and you see that in the Solheim Cup and week to week so I guess we're putting down our swords this week and coming together. Has been fun so far." An alternate-shot (foursomes) format will be used on Saturday with best ball again for Sunday's last round. "Just continue to hit fairways and greens and give each other putts," Kupcho said of their plans. "Just put ourselves in the best position and see what we can do." It was a big day for Porter, who made five birdies in a row from the par-five third through the par-three seventh. After she and Dryburgh both had bogeys at the eighth, Porter birdied the next four holes to reach 12-under before they closed with six pars. "We both made plenty of putts," said Porter. "You can go pretty low if you've both got the putter hot. We just made putts at the right time and helped each other out." js/bb
