Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Bellair, FL–
Walking into the golf course for Round 1 of The ANNIKA Driven by Gainbridge, I will admit it was a much different feeling than yesterday. There was a different ground of fans that came to see Caitlin Clark play and there were quite a few surprises on the links today that included the struggles of 2024 Champion Nelly Korda and sponsor exemption Kai Trump.
Haeran Ryu led the tournament in Day 1 at 6-under 64. Ryu is not a stranger at the top of the leaderboard having won 3 times on tour and collected $5.5 million in earnings.
Korda shot a 1 over par 71 today and was quite a bit back in the field tied for 54th with 20 other players, just one stroke above the projected cut like of +2.
Trump began her day on No. 10 and made four straight bogeys to start the round. Her first par came at the par-5 14th. She made two more pars at holes 16 and 18 to card a 41 on the back nine at Pelican. Trump’s second nine was a bit of a struggle, too, with three bogeys and a pair of double-bogeys.
“I was definitely more nervous than I expected, but I thought I hit a lot of great shots out there,” she said. “I hit a lot of good shots just to the wrong spots.”
It will take a miracle for Trump to make the cut for the weekend, but she has been taking in a lot of golf and should make a good addition to the University of Miami next year.
For the second round tomorrow keep an eye on Grace Kim and Jennifer Kupcho, who are only 1 and 2 shots off the lead respectively. With temps going up over the weekend we will see how the course plays out for all three of these players and if there are any changes at the top.
