Sei Young Kim shoots 64 at TPC Boston for 1st-round lead in the FM Championship

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Sei Young Kim capped a second-nine spree with an chip-in eagle and shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday at the TPC Boston to take the first-round lead in the FM Championship.

Kim played a six-hole stretch in 6 under with four birdies and the eagle on the par-5 seventh. The South Korean player had only 24 putts as she tries to build on a third-place finish last week in the CPKC Women’s Open.

“I feel like this course is a little softer, greens are a little softer than last year,” Kim said. “That’s why I was able to get a lot of birdie chance, even front nine.”

Miyu Yamashita, the runaway winner Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta, was a stroke back along with Emily Kristine Pedersen.

After tying the LPGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record in her nine-stroke victory in Canada, Yamashita led the field with 10 birdies, but had a double bogey on the par-3 eighth. The Japanese star played the back nine in 30 with seven birdies in eight holes. She also had just 24 putts.

“Today putting, middle putting,” Yamashita said. “So good.”

Somi Lee opened with a 66.

Vancouver’s Anna Huang was the leading Canadian with a 69. Calgary’s Aphrodite Deng had a 73, while Maude-Aimee LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Ont., and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., each had a 76.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda had a 72 in the final event before the Solheim Cup. All 10 players atop the women’s ranking are in the field.

The $4.4 million purse is the largest outside of the majors on the LPGA Tour.

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The Associated Press