Ryu, Ariya start strong after agony

Ryu Hae-Ran and Ariya Jutanugarn shook off disappointing finishes in the Chevron Championship to start strong on Thursday at the LPGA Black Desert Championship, where Ryu’s nine birdies gave her a one-stroke first-round lead.

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UTAH: Ryu Hae-Ran and Ariya Jutanu-garn shook off disappointing finishes in the Chevron Championship to start strong on Thursday at the LPGA Black Desert Championship, where Ryu’s nine birdies gave her a one-stroke first-round lead.

South Korea's Ryu hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens in regulation and needed just 27 putts in her nine-under-par 63, which put her one stroke in front of Thailand's Ariya and Taiwan's Hsu Wei-ling in the first LPGA event to be held in Utah since 1964.

Ryu had shared the 54-hole lead at the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the year, in Houston last week, but carded a final-round 76 and missed the five-woman playoff by two strokes.