Staff WriterThe HSBC Women’s World Championship often brings out the LPGA’s elite, and on day one at Sentosa Golf Club it also delivered a new name on top of the billboard: Auston Kim. The American signed for a six-under-par 66 and, for the first time in her LPGA career, walked off with the outright lead in a tournament that already feels like a measuring stick for 2026.
Kim’s Career-First Lead Built on a Red-Hot Putter
Kim’s card had the sort of arithmetic that gives statisticians palpitations and rivals nightmares: seven birdies, one bogey, and just 21 putts. She hit 10 of 14 fairways and only 10 of 18 greens in regulation, which in most events gets you a long, stern talk with your swing coach. Instead, she left Sentosa’s Tanjong course with the fewest putts in the entire field and the solo lead.
This is only her second appearance at the HSBC Women’s World Championship after a T35 finish in 2025, but the world No. 39 looks a very different player now. Her 2025 season produced 19 cuts made in 25 starts, five top-10 finishes and a runner-up at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The résumé has been quietly filling up; Thursday in Singapore felt like the moment the spotlight finally caught up.
Kim credits that shift as much to her head as to her hands. “Yeah, when I think about my game and myself as a golfer since last year, I think I opened last year’s tournament with a 78, and I mean it obviously feels great to score well. But I just I feel like I can handle things a lot better and I’ve been talking with my mental coach, as well.
There are a lot of things that I’ve changed and a lot of things I feel like I’m doing better. Today was a testament to what we’ve been working on, and I’m working hard on what I can control. Obviously one of the things that we talked about this past week was trying to win each day, win each shot, and I feel like I did a really good job of it.”
For a player still searching for her first LPGA victory, that sounds suspiciously like someone who’s starting to believe the numbers on the leaderboard.
Liu, Grant and the Chasing Pack
Kim’s margin is slim. One shot back at five-under is Yan Liu, making her debut at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and behaving as though someone forgot to tell her this is supposed to be intimidating.
Liu matched Kim’s birdie count with seven, offset by two bogeys in a 67 that rode precise iron play. She hit only seven of 14 fairways, but 15 of 18 greens in regulation and needed 28 putts — a profile that suggests there might be even more in the tank if the driver wakes up.
Her goals for the season are disarmingly simple. “Definitely want it to be a win. But the result I cannot control. I think the only thing I can do, just do my best.”
Behind them is a logjam at four-under, the golf equivalent of a motorway pile-up involving various styles of excellence. Linn Grant, Miyu Yamashita, Lindy Duncan, Haeran Ryu and Mimi Rhodes all sit two off the lead after opening 68s.
Grant’s round was a quiet piece of professionalism: five birdies, one bogey, nine of 14 fairways, 13 greens hit and 27 putts. The Swede has already shown she can win big titles on the LPGA Tour, and her victory at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge has clearly moved her internal needle.
“It helped me relax a little bit more going into the season. I’m going in with a bit more confidence, and I just feel like I know what I’m doing and I’m good enough to play out here.”
Yamashita produced a bogey-free 68, picking off birdies at 2, 3, 5 and 8, and needing only 24 putts in her first appearance at this championship. She looked as if she’d been plotting her way around Sentosa for years.
Duncan, meanwhile, matched Grant with five birdies and a bogey, backed by 12 of 14 fairways, 15 greens and 30 putts. The fact she juggles that with the responsibilities of serving as an LPGA Player Director makes her presence on this leaderboard even more impressive.
Rhodes the Rookie Makes Herself at Home
Among the four-under group, Mimi Rhodes supplied one of the more intriguing storylines. The LPGA Tour rookie, in the field this week on a sponsor invitation, ignored the usual “happy to be here” script and went bogey-free with four birdies, hitting 10 of 14 fairways, 12 greens and taking 26 putts.
For a first-timer at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, she spoke like someone quickly recalibrating her expectations.
“Yeah, it’s showing me that my bad game is probably good enough and that when I have my A Game, I can compete with the best here, and that’s what I’ve dreamed about doing since I turned pro. Just play against the best and see I compare. So, yeah, it’s nice to see.”
If this is the “bad game,” the rest of the field might want to avert their eyes when the A-game shows up.
Ko’s Title Defence Starts in Third Gear
Defending champion Lydia Ko opened with a two-under-par 70 and sits at T14. It wasn’t vintage Ko, but nor was it anything to panic about. Her round contained five birdies, one bogey and a double bogey, backed up by 12 of 14 fairways, 13 greens and 28 putts.
In a tournament where Sei Young Kim once shot 62 on this course and Lorena Ochoa still owns the overall 72-hole record at 268, two-under is solidly in the “still very much in it” category. With three rounds left and conditions that can turn, Ko is close enough to make everyone ahead of her feel slightly uneasy.
Records, Context and What Comes Next
The HSBC Women’s World Championship has a habit of exposing both frailty and brilliance. Sentosa’s Tanjong course already has its name attached to some gaudy numbers: Sei Young Kim’s closing 62 in 2018, Danielle Kang’s 36-hole mark of 132 that same year, Nelly Korda’s 54-hole record of 201, and Inbee Park’s 269 aggregate in 2017. Those targets now lurk in the background as this year’s field chases history as well as each other.
For Auston Kim, the context is more personal. She arrived this week as Rolex Rankings No. 39, sitting 36th in the 2026 Race to CME Globe, still seeking her first LPGA Tour win, with five career top-10 finishes and just over $1.7 million in career earnings.
She first joined the LPGA Tour in 2024 after winning the 2023 Epson Tour Championship and finishing third on that money list, and she played her college golf at Vanderbilt University.
Thursday’s six-under 66 doesn’t hand her a trophy, but it does alter the conversation. This is no longer the promising player who finished T39 here last year and T14 at the Honda LPGA Thailand to start this season.
This is the first-round leader of a flagship LPGA event, playing in control, talking like a contender, and rolling the ball as if the hole is twice its usual size.
The HSBC Women’s World Championship rarely stays polite for long; momentum here can move quicker than a tropical storm. But after round one, Auston Kim has earned something new: not just a number next to her name, but a target on her back.
The next three days will tell us whether this is the week she turns a career-first lead into a career-defining victory.
