Jenny Shin carded a bogey free round of 7-under, 66, to take a one-shot lead over 17-year-old sponsor invite Brooke Henderson after the opening round at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Throughout the round, Shin had her eye on the leaderboard, something that is not unusual to her.
“I was chasing the leaderboard all day and I was surprised that Webby was at 6 at one point and thought, how is she shooting 6-under par,” Shin said. “I got there and I was like, maybe I can get one more on the 18th hole and I did.”
Shin, who tallied five birdies and an eagle on the day, has brought her “A” game to Majors as of late making the cut in the past 14, however, today marked her lowest round in a major by two strokes.
“I've been playing okay, and I feel like I have my first win coming up and I thought, you know, it's a major, I want to play well,” Shin explained.
This marks the second time in her career that Shin has slept on the lead, the prior time was at the 2012 HSBC Women’s Champions where she had a career-best finish of T2.
For most of the day it looked Henderson would be joining Shin at 7-under but a bogey on the par-5 ninth, her final hole of the day, dropped her to 6-under and a shot behind Shin.
Seven-time Major Champion Karrie Webb, Moriya Jutanugarn and Charley Hull sit two back at 5-under as 39 golfers sit within five shots of Shin’s lead.