MAINEVILLE, Ohio — In her third start at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, South African Ashleigh Buhai shot an opening 65 to take the first-ever first-round lead at TPC River’s Bend. Buhai missed the cut in her last two appearances in the tournament, which was previously held at Kenwood Country Club, but found success on Thursday at the new track, carding her lowest round of the season to take an early one-stroke lead.

Buhai is a two-time winner and major champion on the LPGA Tour, having won the 2022 AIG Women’s Open and 2023 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer. This year, the 35-year-old is without a top-10 finish, battling lingering back injuries and a broken toe throughout the 2024 season. But, after two weeks off and 10 days away from golf altogether, Buhai said she is feeling the rest and relaxation pay off as she focuses on the task ahead in Maineville, Ohio.

“My goal going into this week was just to – I know it sounds weird – but I can hit so many different shots, and I see so many different shots. My goal this week was to just hit the simplest shot,” Buhai said following her round. “For me, that's just a little drop-off fade unless the other one is really required, and I have to stand up and hit a draw or hit a big fade. I think that's what I did well today, and it showed that when I do that, then I give myself maybe a few more looks than what I have been doing at birdie.”

Starting on the front nine on Thursday, Buhai made three birdies in her first four holes on Nos. 1, 2 and 4 to kickstart her 7-under effort. Going out in 32 thanks to another birdie on the par-5 8th hole, Buhai took advantage of the next reachable par 5 and birdied 11. She recorded her sixth birdie of the day after hitting it close on the par-3 12th hole and then did the same on 16 to card her seventh first-round birdie. Her only mistake of the day came on 17, where a bogey dropped her back to 6-under, but she quickly recovered on 18, another reachable par 5. She found the 18th green in two and two-putted to close out her round the same way she opened it – with a birdie.

“I think I was smart with when I could attack. At the same time, play to spaces. There were a few pins out there where you had to still try to be aggressive, and the greens got a little firm and ran through, but I then made some good up and downs to keep me in it,” Buhai said. “It's kind of nice to have three reachable (par 5s) for everybody in the field. I'm not long. I'm probably average out here, and I could get up to three of the par 5s, which was kind of nice for a change. I think it is set up to go low, but at the same time, there were some pretty tricky pins out there that were front and downwind, and you ended up being long, and I just had to take that and chip back.”

Thai sensation Jeeno Thitikul and People’s Republic of China native Yan Liu sit at 6-under overall after rounds of 66. Thitikul has had a successful season in 2024, with a win at the Dow Championship alongside partner Ruoning Yin and five additional top-10 finishes. Liu, on the other hand, has struggled, missing the cut in her last seven starts on Tour and failing to earn any top-10 results so far this year. She’ll look to end that streak this week in Ohio.

A number of LPGA Tour stars sit among the eight players in a tie for fourth, including Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda, 2024 Olympic gold medalist and LPGA Hall of Famer Lydia Ko, fan-favorite Angel Yin and Ireland’s two-time Tour winner Leona Maguire. Korda and Maguire are coming straight from the 2024 Solheim Cup, where Korda helped lead the U.S. Team to victory for the first time since 2017 and the first time in her Solheim Cup career.

Ashleigh Buhai Leads Queen City Championship After First Round at TPC River’s Bend

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