So Yeon Ryu and Kelly Shon ride ahead

LPGA – June 15, 2018: 2017 Rolex Co-Player of the Year So Yeon Ryu of the Republic of Korea and the United States’ Kelly Shon both shot rounds of 64 (-8) to take the lead after the first round at the 2018 Meijer LPGA Classic. Aditi Ashok left herself a second round climb back after posting a 73 on the opening day at Grand Rapids.

Four players shot 6-under par to tie for third place, two shots back of the lead, including American Lizette Salas, France’s Celine Herbin, Australia’s Su Oh and Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist.

Shon holds the overnight lead for the first time in her LPGA career searching for her first win. Ryu, a five-time LPGA champion, is aiming for her first victory since the 2017 Arkansas Championship – a title she will try to defend next week.

All told, seven countries are represented in the top nine on the leaderboard heading into Friday.

SAME COURSE, NEW CHALLENGE

While this week marks the fifth playing of the Meijer LPGA Classic, a few changes to Blythefield Country Club are making it a different experience for the LPGA players teeing it up this week. The most noticeable change is on the 16th hole, where the tee box has been moved back to make the hole a reachable par-5 and changing the tournament par from 71 to 72. No. 16 played at 472 yards in Thursday’s first-round and players made 84 birdies and seven eagles at the new distance.

Other changes to the course include moving the tee back on the par-5 11th hole. On Thursday No. 11 played to 551 yards compared to just 474 yards in the first round in 2017. In 2017, 72 players birdied No. 11 with a scoring average of 4.521 in the first round, whereas on Thursday just 27 players made birdie on 11 with a scoring average of 4.99.

Aditi’s round took a downturn when she made bogeys at the third and the par-5 fifth hole. The determined Indian woman recovered with fine birdies at the 8th and 13th holes to claw back to even par. At the par-4 17th, Aditi conceded her third bogey of the day to end up in over par territory.

The 20 year old Indian made 13 of 18 greens and took 31 putts to get through her day.

“I think it’s good just to mix it up,” Caroline Masson said of the course changes after finishing her round at 5-under par and tied for seventh. “We come back every year to basically the same course and it’s nice to just mix it up a little bit. It’s a little give and take, I think. They’ve obviously made 11 a little bit longer and then made 16 a par 5. Make some holes harder, make some holes easier, so it’s a nice change for us. I like it.”

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE NO. 1?

This week Rolex Rankings No. 1 Inbee Park celebrated her 100th career week as the world’s top-ranked player, but she may not make it to 101 depending on the outcome of the world’s second-ranked player.

With a win this week Ariya Jutanugarn would be projected to move to back to Rolex Rankings No. 1 almost a year to the date that she first claimed the top spot (June 12, 2017). A second-place finish or worse is not enough for Jutanugarn to move ahead of Park.

COUNTDOWN TO CROWN: RACE FOR TEAM AUSTRALIA

There are three events left until the players are finalized for teams at the 2018 UL International Crown, including this week’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. While the eight participating teams were finalized on June 4th after the U.S. Women’s Open, the players on those teams and the seeding of the teams can still be shaken up ahead of the July 2nd deadline after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Team Australia is one of the most difficult teams to make based on how close the top-ranked Australian players are in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. Holding on to the fourth spot in the standings is Su Oh, who shot an opening round 66 (-6) on Thursday at the Meijer LPGA Classic to put herself at T3 in search of her first career LPGA win.

“Definitely on my mind,” Oh said of the standings. “I’m just trying to play well each week and if somebody else has like better weeks, then you can’t do anything about it.”

Fifth in the standings for Team Australia is Hannah Green (No. 89), who opened with a 4-under par 68 (T10). Green is neck-and-neck with Oh (No. 80) and Sarah Jane Smith (No. 78) for a roster spot – Smith is not in the field this week.