Nasa Hataoka of Japan racked up seven birdies to open the LPGA season in style, setting the first-round lead at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on Thursday in Orlando, Fla.
Hataoka rolled in consecutive birdies at Nos. 10-11 and 15-16 at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club to head to the clubhouse with a 6-under-par 66. A star-studded quartet is one stroke back at 5-under 67: World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, countrywoman Chanettee Wannasaen, English phenom Lottie Woad and Sweden’s Linn Grant.
World No. 2 Nelly Korda and South Korea’s Amy Yang are another shot back at 4-under 68.
Thirty-nine players were invited to the season opener, a 72-hole event without a cut. They are playing alongside 44 amateurs playing in a separate competition with a Modified Stableford scoring format. Retired tennis pro Mardy Fish, a four-time winner of the celebrity division, has the early four-point lead there after scoring a 39.
Hataoka birdied two par-3 holes on the front nine before taking her only bogey of the round at the par-4 seventh hole. Of her four birdies coming in, the par-5 11th saw her hole a lengthy putt from the fringe.
“I think my putting really good today, so that’s why shoot 66,” Hataoka said. “So, yeah, I’m happy with that result.
Hataoka, 27, has nine top-10 finishes at the LPGA’s five majors. She said becoming a major champion and winning more than two tournaments were her goals for the season.
Thitikul, 22, is also in search of her first major title after some near-misses in 2025. She did win her second straight CME Group Tour Championship in November, so she came into this season on that high.
“I don’t even know how,” Thitikul said of how she brings a fresh mentality into 2026. “I still trying to do, and then I think maybe you have to be grounded and then you have to, you know, put yourself where you want it more and where you — you know, aiming for more.”
Woad, also 22, burst on the scene last July when she won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur and the Women’s Scottish Open three weeks later in her first start as a professional.
Woad had the lead thanks to six birdies through 14 holes but made her only bogey of the day at No. 18.
“(The course) definitely challenges you,” Woad said. “I mean, the practice days were pretty cold as well, so it played a little bit easier today, like a bit softer greens I think with the heat. Because when I was playing the practice rounds I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to stop it on this green.”
Defending champion A Lim Kim of South Korea opened with a 3-under 69, as did New Zealand star Lydia Ko.
–Field Level Media
