Ayaka Furue, A Lim Kim, Auston Kim top crowded leaderboard

Ayaka Furue, A Lim Kim and Auston Kim were atop the leaderboard at the LPGA’s Blue Bay tournament with opening-round scores of 4-under 68 on Thursday.

Jeeno Thitikul, the world No. 2, was a shot back with seven other players on China’s southern island of Hainan.

In a crowded field on the first day, 12 more players were just two shots off the pace after rounds of 70. In all, 42 players are at even par or better.

A Lim Kim had a roller-coaster opening round with an eagle, six birdies and four bogeys. Furue bogeyed her first hole then scattered five birdies.

Auston Kim carded the only bogey-free opening round. A Floridian who played collegiately at Vanderbilt, Kim is in her second season and seeking her first LPGA Tour win. She completed her round with 26 putts and said she was confident in that part of her game this week.

“I think there was a lot of trust in my short game and putting today,” she said. “Felt good right out of the gate and been putting in a lot of work the past few weeks. So trusting the work I’ve been putting in and knowing that if I made a bogey it was OK, but if I made the par, fantastic. Just move on to the next one and try my best.”

Thitikul, who played the front nine at 4 under, said the windy conditions played havoc on the back nine.

“I think today played a little bit harder on the back nine, because like a lot of into the wind, especially hole No. 10 is so insane,” she said. “But overall, I think shooting under par here, no matter it’s front or back nine, it’s good enough.”

No. 4-ranked Ruoning Yin carded a par 72 in front of her home fans, while defending champion Bailey Tardy shot a 3-over 75 and was seven shots off the lead.

The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.