Las vegas: Thai stars Jeeno Thitikul, Ariya Jutanugarn and Pajaree Anannarukarn won their opening group matches on Wednesday as the LPGA Match Play got underway in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
World No.2 Jeeno led all the way in a 6&5 victory over American Danielle Kang in Group 2. She was tied on top with Mexico's Gaby Lopez, who beat South Korea's Choi Hye-Jin 2&1 at Shadow Creek Golf Course.
Ariya beat Jennifer Kupcho 3&2 to lead Group 1 after world No.1 and defending champion Nelly Korda halved her match against Brittany Altomare.
Pajaree defeated South Korea's Im Jin-Hee 1-up to lead Group 10 after fellow Thai Moriya Jutanugarn drew against Angel Yin.
Third-ranked Lydia Ko of New Zealand suffered a shock defeat, falling 6&4 to Australian world No.140 Hira Naveed -- who made it into the field as the first alternate.
Canada's Brooke Henderson came up with a big victory, winning 6&5 over Ireland's Leona Maguire, who was runner-up to Korda last year.
The most one-sided match of the day saw No.9 Kim Hyo-Joo of South Korea crush Bailey Tardy 8&7. Also in Group 9, Sweden's Maja Stark defeated Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen 3&2.
Other winners were Yealimi Noh, Lauren Coughlin, Megan Khang, Sarah Schmelzel, Taiwan's Chien Peiyun, Sweden's Linnea Strom and Madelene Sagstrom, France's Celine Boutier, England's Charley Hull, and South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai.
Also prevailing were Australia's Grace Kim, Stephanie Kyriacou, Minjee Lee, Hira Naveed and Gabriela Ruffels; Japan's Ayaka Furue, Yuna Nishimura and Mao Saigo; and South Korea's Narin An, Kim A-Lim, Ina Yoon and Kim Sei-Young.
This year's tournament features 64 players drawn into 16 groups competing in three days of for round-robin matches. A win earns one point, a tie earns a half-point and a loss is zero points.
The winner of each group moves on to a 16-player, single-elimination bracket beginning tomorrow. In the event of a tie for first place in a group, a playoff will determine which player advances. The quarter-finals will be played tomorrow, with the semi-finals and final on Sunday. bangkok post/agencies
