Lauren Coughlin opened with a five-under 67 to share the first-round lead at the Aramco Championship on Thursday with Nasa Hataoka and Women’s British Open champion Miyu Yamashita. Coughlin, who played 127 holes at Shadow Creek last year when the tournament was match play and finished runner-up to Madelene Sagstrom, said her experience on the course gives her an edge.
The Aramco Championship is co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour and carries a $4m purse, attracting many of the top 20 players in the world.
Nelly Korda and Hyo Joo Kim finished one shot back at 68. Korda eagled the par-five 18th, while Kim bogeyed her opening hole and played the remainder of the round without dropping another shot. Kim has won the last two weeks on the LPGA Tour with Korda finishing runner-up both times; players haven’t finished 1-2 in consecutive weeks on the LPGA in 25 years.
Korda’s last hat-trick of wins came in 2024 during a streak of five straight victories, and that third straight win that year was also at Shadow Creek. Kim said: “Coming into Vegas people keep telling me to win three weeks in a row. I mean, I think I’ll just try my best like usual. There is nothing else.”
Joint first-round leader Coughlin could be the one to beat given her familiarity with Shadow Creek. “I feel like I know this place really well. Been in a lot of the places that you don’t want to be, so I feel like I just know the spots that I need to land it to a lot of the pins, where to miss if you have to,” she said.
Watch the second round of the Aramco Championship from 11pm on Friday on Sky Sports Mix, with coverage on Sky Sports Golf at midnight.