KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY: World No. 1 Lydia Ko picked up right where she left off in 2022, blazing through her first round of professional golf in 2023 with an 8-under score on the first day of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by the Public Investment Fund.
Joining Ko at the top of the leaderboard is Thai golfer Pajaree Anannarukarn, who is competing in Saudi Arabia and the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club for the first time.
Sitting one stroke behind the leaders is a solid Asian contingent that features world No. 4 Atthaya Thitikul from Thailand, India’s Aditi Ashok and South Korean Jung Min Hong.
Ko took advantage of starting in the morning wave with less windy conditions, putting up a bogey-free round.
“All in all, I putted really well out there. Most of the opportunities I had, I was able to take advantage of,” Ko said, describing the round as “a nice start to the season.”
She added: “The wind is such a big factor on this golf course, so when it’s playing to your advantage, you kind of want to use that. I think I felt really confident with the putter today so that when I didn’t hit the green, I wasn’t too stressed about it and felt like I could make up and down.”
Ko, who recently got married, credits her ability to jump right back into the game to the amount of golf she played during her honeymoon.
She said: “I had a few weeks to prepare for this one, but I played a lot of golf, maybe a bit too much golf, on my honeymoon. But my husband loves golf, and that’s something that we can mutually do together, so we took advantage of that. And actually, thanks to him, it made my transition into off-season practice a lot easier.”
Anannarukarn was on form right from the get-go, sinking in four straight birdies. The 23-year-old maintained her brilliant form throughout the rest of the morning and sank a total of eight birdies, one eagle and two bogeys for a score of 64.
She said: “I was actually really in the zone starting off since the first hole. Did not expect the first birdie.”
Crediting her putting for her top performance today, Anannarukarn added: “(I) just really tried to get the speed good enough, and it turned out great today. Really grateful for that.”
World No. 4 Thitikul was again reminded of her time competing alongside Ko when they played together during the final round of the 2021 edition of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, where Ko took the title. Much like that day, while the 19-year-old scored great, Ko managed to get one up on her.
Thitikul likewise described the round as a “really good start” to the 2023 season.
Ashok has carried her great form since the start of the year to the $5 million Aramco Saudi Ladies International, after capturing the Magical Kenya Ladies Open two weeks ago and finishing third last week at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.
She remarked: “I wasn’t in the field this week until I won, so definitely having that win and even third place last week on a tough golf course, I feel that was pretty good. This week, the field is really strong, so I was excited to see how my game was. Yeah, today was a great day. (There are) still three more rounds.”
Free tickets are available for fans to catch the world’s best compete for the title and enjoy family-friendly entertainment and breathtaking views at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club. Tickets can be secured by visiting www.golfsaudi.com, where further information regarding the tournament may also be found.
