Lydia Ko shoots career-low 60 in opening round of Ford Championship

Lydia Ko started her first round at Wild Horse Pass with four consecutive birdies and never looked back, tripling that number on her way to a career-low 12-under 60.

Ko’s Ford Championship birdie fest put her in line to become only the second player in LPGA history to shoot 59, but she just missed matching Annika Sorenstam’s second round at Moon Valley Country Club in 2001.

“I don’t think I’ve ever actually started a round with four birdies, so it was nice to take advantage of the good start and continue that on my back nine as well,” Ko told reporters Thursday.

Despite never going more than two holes without a birdie and recording a dozen of them, Ko was one shy of Sorenstam’s birdie mark.

Sorenstam, who finished with a 13-under 59 in Phoenix a quarter century ago, remains the only player in LPGA Tour history to break 60.

“The number 59 did cross my mind by the time I holed my birdie putt on 6 (her 15th hole of the day), but it wasn’t like the pressure was — like it wasn’t like I had a lot of pressure to like break 60,” Ko explained. “It was just more like, ‘Oh, it’s really cool to be in this position.’”

A three-time major winner, Ko ended her opening round strong with four birdies in the last five holes. Her 60 is the fourth the LPGA has seen since 2010, and just the eighth in Tour history.

There won’t be a long time to celebrate the feat, though.

The 28-year-old carries a one-stroke lead over Hyo Joo Kim, who finished with a 61 just four days removed from hoisting the Founders Cup trophy in Menlo Park.

Kim is the reigning champion at Wild Horse Pass. A year ago, she came from four strokes behind in the final round and forced a playoff against Lilia Vu which she won.

Nelly Korda won the inaugural event in 2024, when it was played at Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, Arizona. Korda, who almost came back from a five-shot deficit to defeat Kim at the Founders on Sunday, sits three strokes back after a 63.

‘Honeymoon phase’ with new putter

Ko achieved her career-best score with a new putter in her bag.

She told reporters she switched to a Scotty Cameron 12 ahead of the Ford Championship.

“I’ve had my old putter for a really long time, like the same model, so it was kind of different just to have something else,” she said.

“I have my love towards Scotty Cameron putters, so it’s very unusual for me to change out of my putter,” she added.

“I felt like you never know until you play out there and obviously I —- this has only been one round but it’s a good start. You know, really couldn’t have been any better.”

Ko was hesitant to call the instant success anything more than “a honeymoon phase.”

“We all know golf is a game of inches. Days when it goes well it lips in and days it really doesn’t it lips out,” she said.

“You just have to go with the flow. Because I had that mindset I really wasn’t that nervous and 9 and 8 aren’t just gimme birdies anyway, so to birdie those and just finish at 60, I’m excited that I finished at that score rather than feeling disappointed that I didn’t break 60.”

Round 1 leaderboard

As the day progressed, so did the heat.

Jeeno Thitikul and Charley Hull, the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked players in the world, respectively, were paired together and started late.

Thitikul finished with a 3-under 69 and never seemed to find consistency driving the ball, winding up both right and left of fairways at different points in the afternoon. She is T-53 after 18 holes in the desert.

“Maybe in the morning it’s softer,” she said of the greens. “If it’s softer then we can be more aggressive.”

Thitikul added that being nine shots off the lead would not impact her gameplan.

“I don’t think there’s any pressure comparing [yourself] to other players,” she said, adding that Ko’s round was “incredible.”

“I guess when it’s your day it’s your day,” Thitikul told reporters post round.

Hull also struggled with accuracy off the tee, finding a late birdie to get herself to 1-under 71 on the first round. She sits T-92 entering Friday.

Above the pair of top-ranked players are Sweden’s Frida Kinhult and China’s Weiwei Zhang, who are T-4 after shooting 8-under 64s to open the tournament.

There’s an additional four-way tie for sixth place on the LPGA leaderboard ahead of the second round.