Four Players Tied for First in Riviera Maya OpenKickoff

Brianna Do from Canada, Chisato Iwai of Japan, Jenny Shin from South Korea, and Bianca Pagdanganan representing the Philippines all scored a 4-under-par 68 on Friday, taking the joint lead after the first round of the Mexico Riviera Maya Open held at Mayakoba.

She scored birdies on two out of her first four holes at the El Camaleon Golf Course in Playa del Carmen, and continued with an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. She had a bogey on the par-4 ninth hole as she finished up an exciting front nine, before adding another birdie on her last hole.

After making her season debut, Do remarked, ‘I had quite a strong beginning. I believe I was 4-under through five holes, which certainly gave me an advantage.’

I mostly maintained a consistent pace throughout. The latter half seems somewhat more challenging compared to the first part, so I focused on capitalizing on chances during the last few holes and ended with a birdie at hole number 18.

Out of the four players who were tied at the top of the leaderboard, Shin secured the highest number of birdies — seven — however, she also had a bogey on hole number five and a double bogey on the par-four sixteenth hole.

Nevertheless, Shin managed to bounce back by securing consecutive birdies to finish her round. In total, five of her birdies were achieved on the latter half of the course even though the temperature climbed up to 91 degrees Fahrenheit.

“I honestly can’t recall due to the heat,” remarked Shin, who recorded 27 putts. “The initial birdie escapes my memory. However, I did manage some excellent shots along with some poor ones, which led to the double bogey on hole 16.”

At the same time, both Iwai and Pagdanganan gathered five birdies along with one bogey during their round. Pagdanganan encountered her lone bogey at hole number 16; however, she concluded strongly by making a birdie at hole number 18.

It seemed like quite an effortless round, something I hadn’t experienced in some time,” Pagdanganan stated. “Being able to achieve this out here feels truly great. I managed to land on many greens but didn’t find myself hitting as many fairways. Overall, my mind was fairly calm.

The group of five players—Jennie Bae from the U.S., Germany’s Olivia Cowan and Aline Krauter, South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi, and Japan’s Minami Katsu—are positioned just behind the leader with a first-round score of 5-under-par 69.

After the opening round, where each participant recorded at least one bogey, eight competitors find themselves just two strokes behind.

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