Australian golf revelation Karis Davidson is savouring a rare, near-perfect day at the office after producing a back-nine birdie blitz to seize a share of the first-round lead at the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea.
The 28-year-old peeled off seven birdies in a blistering nine-hole stretch en route to a six-under-par 66 on Thursday to be tied with Japan's Yuri Yoshida after the opening day of the second leg of the LPGA Tour's Asian swing.
"It was just one of those perfect days with my irons and hybrids that I nearly had a hole-in-one on the first birdie on the front nine, which was pretty cool," Davidson said.
"And then I just hit a couple of really close shots. But yeah, it was overall a really solid day."
Davidson is yet to win on the LPGA Tour but is having an impressive season, making the cut in 15 of her 17 starts and so far earning $US785,600 ($A1.2 million) in prize money.
She was right in contention at the Women's PGA Championship in Minnesota in June, before finishing in a tie for 12th.
Now Davidson has seriously boosted her chances of qualifying for next month's $US11 million Tour Championship.
Her first-round heroics have elevated the world No.67 to 26th in the live season-long point standings, with only the top 60 to make the final field for the Florida finale from November 19-22.
With so much at stake with a strong finish this week, it is no surprise Davidson is hoping to stay cool over the final three rounds at the Pine Beach Golf Links, south-west of Gwangju.
"Just trying to stay patient because I'm assuming it's going to be really tough," she said.
"Some weather conditions aren't looking too good. So just continuing to do that and try and keep up my good iron shots."
Yoshida is also seeking her first win on the LPGA Tour and carded a bogey-free round to start the tournament.
Robyn Choi is the next best-placed Australia and is in a tie for 18th after posting a two-under 70.
Cassie Porter shares 40th after an even-par 70, while Grace Kim (73) and Minjee Lee (76) are the other Australians in the field.
No.3-ranked Haeran Ryu shot 67 and was tied for third. Her round included a chip-in birdie from off the 5th green. Also tied for third were Americans Lucy Li and Lauren Coughlin and European Solheim Cup player Julia Lopez Ramirez.
No.7-ranked Lottie Woad, who was on the victorious European team in the Solheim Cup, shot 69.
Defending champion Sei Young Kim, who ended a five-year victory drought in 2025 with a win on the Pine Beach links, had an opening 72.
Ruoning Yin, who is not in the 83-player, no-cut field this week, won last week's tournament in Shanghai.
She became the third player this season to surpass $3 million in official prize money, joining Nelly Korda ($6.2 million) and Ryu ($4.5 million).
The Maybank Championship is scheduled for next week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the third of four events on the tour's late-season Asian swing.
It will be followed by a tournament in Japan before the LPGA returns to Florida to wrap up the season.
With the AP
