SHANGHAI — Hye-Jin Choi, looking for her first win on the LPGA Tour to add to her 12 victories in her native South Korea, shot an 8-under 64 Thursday to take a three-stroke lead after the first spherical of the Shanghai occasion.
Choi had 4 consecutive birdies on her closing 9. Carlota Ciganda was in second place after a 67.
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Defending champion Jeeno Thitikul, who won in a five-hole playoff over Minami Katsu here in 2025, shot 69 and was in a tie for seventh.
Thitikul won the Lotte Championship in Hawaii earlier this month for her fourth LPGA victory of the season and eleventh total.
It is the sixth Buick LPGA Shanghai and the first at Sheshan Golf Club, which hosted the HSBC Champions match 11 occasions when it was a World Golf Championship occasion.
Shanghai is the first of 4 tournaments on the late-season Asian Swing on the LPGA Tour, with other occasions in South Korea, Malaysia and Japan over the next three weeks.
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