Peiyun Chien Grabs Early Chevron Championship Lead

Peiyun Chien’s solo lead of the Chevron Championship looked to be in jeopardy on Thursday afternoon as the field returned to calmer conditions and a softer golf

Peiyun Chien’s solo lead of the Chevron Championship looked to be in jeopardy on Thursday afternoon as the field returned to calmer conditions and a softer golf course after an hour-long weather delay. 

But no one could match the 32-year-old’s 5-under 67 by the end of the day at The Club at Carlton Woods—not even world No. 2 Nelly Korda or recent LPGA Thailand champion, Lilia Vu. 

Chien, who played her way into the first major championship of the season with a T4 finish at last week’s Lotte Championship in Hawaii, started her day with a bogey but fired back with six birdies on the Jack Nicklaus-designed venue. 

“My irons were pretty good today,” Chien said. “I made a lot of good birdie putts. I also missed some opportunities, but overall, very good iron shots and very good putts, birdie putts.”

Chien’s struggles on the first hole might have been related to her nerves going into the round today. The Taiwan native admitted that the course—specifically the greens—felt daunting ahead of her tee times. 

“Actually I saw the pin sheet last night, and I can't sleep. It feels so hard. We're doing very well today, just focused on what I want, what we want, and which way we can miss. I think we did very well today,” Chien said. 

To Chien’s surprise, however, her short game held up just fine. She even holed out on the 8th hole, her 17th of the day, to reach 5 under. 

Behind Chien, six players stand tied for second at 4 under: Vu, Korda, Ayaka Furue, Marina Alex, Chella Choi and Stephanie Kyriacou, who holed out for eagle on her 18th hole of the day. 

“I was a little bit shocked to be honest. I've never had a hole-out in a professional tournament, so I guess that was pretty cool,” the Australian said. 

Korda, the 2021 Women’s PGA Champion, made a late charge to shoot 68 with a tap-in birdie at the last. 

Brittany Lincicome, 37, also posted a stellar opening round of 70 (-2). Lincicome gave birth to her second daughter last August and has only teed it up on Tour three times since. 

“Obviously two kids makes it just a little bit more difficult. You have to time-manage a little bit more,” Lincicome said. “But it's so great to be back out here seeing everyone's faces and bringing the girls out and introducing them to everybody. It's just really been awesome to come back and be welcomed back. It's nice to play well.”