Canadian Brooke Henderson top-5 at LPGA's ANA Inspiration on 23rd birthday

Nelly Korda has had Grand Slam events on her mind for the last two weeks, not just her own, and she made it through the first round Thursday of the ANA Inspiration with just the start she wanted.

With heat-baked greens so firm she couldn't find pitch marks, Korda hit hybrid off the tee on the par-5 18th with a front pin. That set her up for a wedge to 3 feet below the hole for birdie and a 6-under 66, giving her a one-shot lead.

Two-time major champion In Gee Chun had to scramble for par on the 18th for a 67. Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden matched that score with a par on her closing hole at the par-5 ninth with a third shot out of rough so thick she could barely see her golf ball.

Danielle Kang, projected to reach No. 1 in the world with a victory at Mission Hills, and Brooke Henderson of Canada were among those two shots behind.

Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 4-under 68 on her 23rd birthday Thursday after recording birdies on four of her final eight holes at the ANA Inspiration.

"Happy with 4 under," she said. "It's definitely a solid start, nice way to spend your birthday, and hopefully I can just keep making some birdies and climb the leaderboard."

Hamilton's Alena Sharp, the only other Canadian in the field, shot a 3-over 75.

WATCH | Brooke Henderson ties for lead on 23rd birthday:

On her 23rd birthday Brooke Henderson in contention at ANA Inspiration

4 years ago

Duration 2:43

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., gave herself a birthday present, carding a 4-under 68, two shots back of the lead after the first round of the LPGA major ANA Inspiration tournament.

With sizzling temperatures at the course (the high was 36 C on Thursday), caddies — including Henderson's sister Brittany — are allowed to use electric carts.

"Normally I would never agree to taking carts, but definitely under the circumstances with it being so hot out here, and I definitely felt like since the LPGA was allowing us to use them, it was definitely an advantage for us," Brooke Henderson said. "It was nice, she was able to zoom along, get to my ball fast, calculate some numbers, really get a feel for all the conditions, and then by the time I arrived she already had everything already set out and we could discuss a little bit more specifically."

Henderson wasn't in top form in her first two events since the LPGA Tour returned from its COVID-19 suspension last month, missing the cut at the British Open and tying for 49th at the Arkansas Championship.

Henderson has a Canadian record nine wins on the top tour, including a major title at the 2016 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

The temperatures didn't quite hit 100 degrees in the desert — that's for later in the week — making this the most comfortable day. It was still exhausting for Korda, who described her start as "good, but tired, for sure."

Imagine how her father felt.

Petr Korda, the 1998 Australian Open tennis champion, was on the 10th fairway in the morning to watch his older daughter, Jessica, post a 74. Then it was another 18 holes, along with their mother, to watch Nelly.

WATCH | Korda in lead after 1st round:

Nelly Korda leads ANA Inspiration by one shot

4 years ago

Duration 0:30

American Nelly Korda shot a 6-under 66 to lead following the first round of the LPGA major ANA Inspiration tournament.

And this after returning from New York to watch his 20-year-old son, Sebastian Korda, make his Grand Slam debut in the U.S. Open, losing in four sets in the first round to Denis Shapovalov.

That got the attention of the golfing sisters, with Nelly rushing home from Arkansas last week to watch on TV.

"He looked really good, so hopefully he keeps trending upwards," she said. "It would be really cool to see him succeed."

WATCH | Korda falls to Shapovalov at U.S. Open:

Shapovalov advances at U.S. Open with win over Korda

4 years ago

Duration 1:57

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., moves on to the 2nd round of the U.S. Open with 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Sebastian Korda.

Chun was happy with her start, and more importantly, she's happy to be playing golf. She won two majors early in her LPGA career, starting with the U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster in 2015, that the pressure mounted as she tried to find perfection in a game that doesn't allow for it.

That became too much too handle, and Chun had to reset to find her passion. It started to return before COVID-19 pandemic shut down the LPGA Tour for five months, and the time in South Korea only helped.

"I really tried not to be hard on myself on the golf course. I wanted to have fun out there and work really well, and I made a great round today," Chun said.

Kang was pleased with her scoring, too, especially the 5-iron from 191 yards on the par-3 fifth that was inches away from an ace, a shot that elicited a scream of "Get in the hole!" from a voice Kang recognized.

"My mom," she said. "Yeah, this was the first time she got to come watch me play this entire year, so I'm really excited and happy about that."

Her mother was excited, too, at least on that shot.

"She sometimes doesn't even know if I made a birdie or not," Kang said. "She just keeps taking off. I tell her, `Can you just watch instead of running off to the next hole?"'

There was plenty to see, and a full week left as Kang tries to add another major and rise to No. 1 in the world.

Jin Young Ko, the No. 1 player and defending champion at the ANA Inspiration, is home in South Korea has not played an LPGA event this year as she sits out the COVID-19 pandemic, playing only three times on the Korean LPGA.