Lydia Ko posts career-low 60 and
only leads by 1 shot in LPGA's Phoenix stop
[March 27, 2026]
PHOENIX (AP) — Lydia Ko opened with four straight birdies and never
stopping rolling Thursday until she closed out the best round of her
LPGA Tour career with two more birdies for a 12-under 60 on a day of
extreme low scoring in the Ford Championship.
Defending champion Hyo Joo Kim had a 61, making it the first time
since the 2003 Kellogg-Keebler Classic two players were double
digits under par in the opening round.
“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,” Ko said. “I think like as every golfer, when
things go well you also think about the things that could go
terribly wrong. I feel like I stayed patient and was rolling it
really well.”
A moderate start to her 13th season came to life on the Cattail
course at Whirlwind Golf Club when the 28-year-old Ko got into a
rhythm after a rare putter change and started piling up the birdies.
She said the idea of 59 — Annika Sorenstam has the only sub-60 round
in LPGA history, 25 years ago on a different course in Phoenix —
entered her thinking when she birdied her 14th and 15th holes of the
round after starting on No. 10.
But she didn't hit a 7-foot birdie putt firmly enough on the par-5
seventh. Ko finished with two more birdies for her career low round.
“That would have been nice to hole that one,” Ko said. “But who
knows? Maybe if I holed that one I might not have holed the other
two. You can't think about ‘what if?’ Birdied some other ones that I
didn't expect, so kind of just evens out in that sense.”
It was the ninth round of 60 or lower on the LPGA, the most recent
by Lucy Li at Pinnacle Country Cub in Arkansas in 2024.
Kim also started on No. 10 and shot 28 on the front nine, finishing
birdie-eagle-birdie, including a hole-out from the fairway on the
par-4 eighth hole.
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Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, hits from the 11th tee during the first
round of the LPGA Fortinet Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday,
March 19, 2026, in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Nelly Korda, who opened the year with a 54-hole win
in Florida and was runner-up last week in California, holed out from
the 18th fairway for eagle in the middle of her round and shot 63,
one of her career best. She was three shots behind.
They all played in the morning and no one caught
them in the afternoon, when temperatures were pushing 100 degrees
(38 Celsius). Frida Kinhult of Sweden had a 64, the low score of the
afternoon. Jeeno Thitikul, the No. 1 player in women's golf, opened
with a 69.
The big surprise for Ko was not so much her score but the equipment
she uses. The Kiwi rarely tinkers with her putter but decided to
switch to a different model earlier this week.
“It’s been a while since I have tried a different model,” Ko said of
her Scotty Cameron 12 she used at Whirlwind. “It just rolled good.
Went in the bag on Tuesday. ... This has only been one round but
it’s a good start. You know, really couldn’t have been any better.”
Ko was among six players from the morning wave who shot 65 or
better. The course must not have seemed all that easy to Lexi
Thompson, who plays a limited schedule and made her 2026 debut with
a 75 that left her 15 shots behind.
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