Hull ‘confident’ after taking one-shot lead

Ford Championship first-round leaderboard

-9 C Hull (Eng); -8 NK Madsen (Den); -7 SY Kim (Kor), B Henderson (Can), J-H Im (Kor), M Lee (Kor), M Katsu (Jpn), A Doherty (US), P Chien (Tpe), I Yoon (Kor)

Selected others: -5 N Korda (US); -2 C McGinty (Eng), L Maguire (Ire); -1 G Dryburgh (Sco); E J Ewart (Eng); +2 G Hall (Eng)

England’s Charley Hull shot an impressive nine-under-par round of 63 to take a one-shot lead into the second round of the Ford Championship in Arizona.

Hull started her bogey-free round on the back nine, picking up four shots before the turn and birdieing five holes down the stretch.

“I kind of tweaked my driver at the beginning of the week and I really, really, really hit it well today,” said Hull, whose last LPGA win came in 2022.

“I felt like that put me in a lot of good positions. I was hitting it good and felt confident. I just felt good out there.”

Hull leads Nanna Koerstz Madsen by one after the Dane bogeyed the par-four fifth hole, while eight players are tied on seven under.

Defending champion and world number one Nelly Korda shot 67 on her return from a six-week break, leaving her tied for 17th place.