Norton, Massachusetts – Alisen Corpuz remained patient while rotating the wheels for most of the year, opening the FM Championship at 7-under 65 on Thursday, sharing a one-round lead with Say Young Kim.
Corpuz had four birdies on the final six holes at TPC Boston and drilled a 10-foot birdie putt in the par 4 ninth to catch Kim, who played in mild situations in the morning.
Nelly Korda switched his putter to more blades and saw him pay off with 7 birdies in rounds 67 when he debuted on the TPC Boston course.
Corpuz had only one LPGA victory, but it was a big one – the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach two years ago. She had top 10 pairs at the beginning of the year, including a third of the Ford Championships held in Phoenix in late March. That was her last top ten.
“I feel golf is a very entertaining game,” Corpos said. “Even if that wasn’t the result I wanted to see, it feels really, really close throughout the season. It’s a good start to the season and it feels like things are beginning to turn the corner a bit.”
Kim played in the morning when the weather got a little cooler and she wondered if the course would play longer as the golf ball wasn’t flying that much. However, she birded three of the par 5s until she needed to calm her down in a closed hole with a large groove in front of the green and a large groove in front of the big stars around it.
That’s what made Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul triple in the second week after returning to number one in the world women’s rankings. She blows up the tee that shot in the right side, but her approach on the par 5 misses her left and goes down that steep slope. Her first pitch was shortened and returned to her legs, and Tai took the bogey for the 69.
Two stories are played all year round at the LPGA – 22 consecutive tournaments start the year with different winners in each, and Korda has not won any of them. Korda has been out of seven wins in 2024 and lost his No. 1 ranking to Thitikul just two weeks ago.
Her 67 left her in the third tied player logjam, including female PGA champions Minzy Lee, Celine Beautyer, Andrea Lee, Gooleen Cowl and LPGA rookie who had to pass Monday’s qualifying.
Korda said she didn’t know what she would think of putters at home, as the course in Florida, where she lives, wasn’t at its best in the hot summer. But she took it to Canada and loved how it felt and put it in her bag. This is the same model as the one she used last year.
“It’s just something new,” Korda said. “I knew I was very successful with such putters and felt confident in it. I had to feel something different.”
