Staff WriterOn another steam-room afternoon in Chonburi, the Honda LPGA stop in Thailand turned into a birdie binge, and two very different résumés ended up sharing the same number: 65.
Home favourite Chanettee Wannasaen and Japan’s Nasa Hataoka both opened with 7-under rounds at the Honda LPGA Thailand, carving up Siam Country Club like they’d been here all their lives—which, in Wannasaen’s case, isn’t far from the truth.
Wannasaen rides the home heat
For Chanettee Wannasaen, this is her sixth appearance at the Honda LPGA Thailand, and she’s worn just about every credential badge they hand out here—including Sponsor Invitation in 2021, 2022 and 2023. On Thursday, she finally played like the host course owed her a favour.
Wannasaen racked up nine birdies against two bogeys, leading the field in birdies and looking every inch like the local star the galleries came to see. She hit 13 of 14 fairways, an outrageous 17 of 18 greens in regulation, and needed only 28 putts to scribble that 65 on her card—her best opening round since matching the number at the 2025 BMW Ladies Championship.
It’s only the second time in her young LPGA career that she has led or co-led after round one, the other coming at the 2025 Kroger Queen City Championship. Her best finish here so far is a modest T24 in 2025, but you wouldn’t know it from the way she talked—and sweated—her way through day one.
“Hot. Yeah, it’s always hot. Always same weather. But like you know Honda there is a lot of fans and spectator, and today is a lot of spectator. It’s just kind of like play in my home, play in my country. It’s pretty fun and like have a lot of memory in this course.”
Home, heat and happy memories: it’s a potent mix. Ranked No. 56 in the Rolex Rankings, Wannasaen already has two LPGA Tour victories to her name—the 2024 Dana Open and the 2023 Portland Classic—and more than $2.8 million in official career earnings. She joined the LPGA Tour in 2023 and represented Thailand at the 2025 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown, but a statement week at the Honda LPGA Thailand in front of her own people would hit a different part of the heart.
Hataoka looks ominous… again
Sharing the top bunk at 7-under is Rolex Rankings No. 16 Nasa Hataoka, who has made Siam Country Club a personal playground over the years. This is her seventh appearance at the Honda LPGA Thailand; she has already written her name all over the tournament record book and, on Thursday, she looked in the mood to underline it in bold.
Hataoka’s 65 came with eight birdies and a single bogey, plus typically tidy ball-striking: 13 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens, and just 26 putts. It’s her best first-round score since she opened with 65 at the 2025 Toto Japan Classic—and she went on to win that one.
“I think my tee shot and iron shot pretty well today, and, yeah, that’s why I was able to make so many birdie chances today. So today was good start.”
That “good start” is attached to one of the most reliable engines on tour. Hataoka owns seven career LPGA Tour victories, including one in 2025, and has amassed 56 career top-10s and more than $11.1 million in official earnings since joining the LPGA in 2017. She’s also a member of the JLPGA Tour, so this sort of precision is closer to her default setting than a hot streak.
In 2026, she’s already posted a T9 at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in her season debut and sits ninth in the Race to CME Globe, with $45.2K in official season earnings. When a player like that gets comfortable early at the Honda LPGA, everyone else tends to start checking the rear-view mirror.
Choi’s laser show, Dryburgh’s mom debut, Lee’s spotless card
Just one shot back at 6-under 66 is a trio offering three very different storylines: Hye-Jin Choi, Gemma Dryburgh and Somi Lee.
Choi put on an absolute ball-striking clinic. She hit a perfect 14 of 14 fairways and a ludicrous 18 of 18 greens in regulation—and somehow needed 41 putts to get around. It was a round of seven birdies and one bogey, the sort of day that makes you wonder how low she might have gone if her putter had cooperated even a little.
“It was first tournament in LPGA. After last year I trained hard and I rest hard. Last year I really hit the ball with feeling but this year on the training I tried to focus on the process, and I think this helped during the round.”
Her 66 is her lowest first-round score since a 64 at the 2025 Maybank Championship. This is her fourth appearance at the Honda LPGA Thailand; she finished T4 here in 2024, and if Thursday is any indication, she’s in the mood to better that.
Then there’s Gemma Dryburgh, who turned her first tournament as an LPGA Tour mom into a highlight reel almost immediately. Playing her first competitive round back, she eagled her opening hole (No. 10), tacked on seven birdies and three bogeys, hit 12 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens, and needed just 26 putts.
“Yeah, it’s honestly been a big adjustment, but all for the better. It’s been seven weeks now, so it was tough to leave them. I’m away for three weeks now, so going to miss him a lot. Seeing him on FaceTime and stuff, so, yeah, miss him a lot. Yeah, it’s been different offseason obviously kind of jugging the parent life and kind of new life style, but it’s been great.”
Different offseason, same competitive Gemma. Motherhood may have rearranged her schedule, but it clearly hasn’t blunted her competitive edge at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Somi Lee rounded out the T3 group with the cleanest card of the bunch: six birdies, no bogeys, built on 12 of 14 fairways, 16 of 18 greens, and 28 putts. It’s only her second appearance at this event after finishing T41 in 2025, but she sounded like someone who’s already cracked the local code.
“You have to land the fairway here to be able to kind of have a chance to make a birdie, and I think the most important thing is the driver and the putter.”
On Thursday, she had both purring.
Defending champion Yin lurking — and her records still loom
Defending champion Angel Yin opened with a tidy 3-under 69, which under normal circumstances would sound like a nice day out. The problem for the rest of the field is that she’s already proved that “nice” isn’t nearly enough to win here. Yin’s historic 2025 performance rewrote the Honda LPGA Thailand record book:
- 18 holes: 61 by Akie Iwai (R4, 2025)
- 36 holes: 128, shared by Nasa Hataoka (2022), Su Oh (2022), Patty Tavatanakit (2021) and Jessica Korda (2018)
- 54 holes: 195 by Angel Yin (2025) and Nanna Koerstz Madsen (2022)
- 72 holes: 260 by Angel Yin (2025)
On Thursday, Yin carded five birdies and two bogeys for that opening 69, leaving her T26 after round one. That might sound distant in a low-scoring shootout, but given the way she vaporised par here last year, nobody is about to forget where the defending champion is on the leaderboard.
Race to CME context and the bigger picture
Beyond the first-round fireworks, there’s a longer arc in play at the Honda LPGA stop in Thailand. The co-leaders bring very different 2026 scorecards to the party:
- Chanettee Wannasaen sits 17th in the Race to CME Globe, with $28.9K in 2026 earnings, but no top-10s yet this season.
- Nasa Hataoka is ninth in the Race to CME Globe, with one top-10 already and $45.2K in official 2026 earnings.
Career-wise, the disparity is even starker. Wannasaen is the emerging homegrown talent with two career LPGA wins and eight career top-10s. Hataoka is the established star, boasting seven LPGA victories and 56 top-10 finishes.
Both, however, woke up on Thursday with the same job: turn four days at Honda LPGA Thailand into something that changes the season.
Thai pride and time flying by
If you’re looking for a bigger emotional thread this week, you don’t have to go far. Thai fans have watched their home contingent grow from curiosity to force, and no one captured that arc more poignantly than Jeeno Thitikul, who sits at 5-under after round one and remembers when this all felt very new.
“I know. I couldn’t believe like time flies so fast. I mean, yesterday I just sitting on the coach in the hotel room and imagine I couldn’t believe how far that I have been come from 14 to now. Tomorrow going to be 23 now. It’s just grateful for everything that I really put the work in and it just pay off. And then also I think they should be happy on not just me doing, but all the Thai girls doing out there on the Tour.”
From a 14-year-old phenom to a 23-year-old anchor of Thailand’s golf boom, Thitikul’s journey mirrors the rise of the event itself. With Wannasaen leading the way on home soil, Yin looming with her records, Hataoka stalking fairways like a metronome, and a wave of international and Thai talent piled up on the leaderboard, the Honda LPGA Thailand looks set for another scorched-earth weekend.
Bring sunscreen. And maybe an extra pencil—at this scoring rate, the card is going to need it.
