The first round of the 2024 season is in the books, and it was a good day for scoring at the Country Club of Winter Haven as 46 players finished under par. Crystal Wang leads the way by one shot at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, opening her season with a 6-under 66.
Wang, a 2024 Epson Tour rookie, got off to a hot start in her first career appearance, rolling in four birdies in her opening nine holes to make the turn at 4-under. The University of Illinois alumna started her back nine with a par but took advantage of the next three holes, two of which were par 5s. Wang made birdie on both 11 and 13 to move her total to 6-under overall, and she wasn't finished.
One more birdie on No. 15 got the rookie to 7-under on the round before she finally had her first hiccup on the par-3 17th hole. A wayward tee shot set up a difficult up and down, and her putt ultimately slid by the hole for par. A closing par on the 18th hole was all the 23-year-old needed to maintain her solo lead.
“I kind of just stayed present, one shot at a time,” said Wang. “I know the bogeys happened, and birdies happen, too. And just, there's more holes, there's more golf to be played. Coming into this, I just wanted to enjoy it. You never know what's going to happen. And then walking off is like, I think I did a pretty good job of starting this season.”
A group of three players follow closely behind Wang, looking to track her down on Moving Day. Jennifer Chang, Yu-Sang Hou and Haylee Harford all signed for a 5-under 67, even though they all got there in a different way. Hou may have had the most impressive stretch of golf on the day, closing out her first round with six straight birdies, while Harford went bogey-free to start her season. Chang had a similar day to the leader, only making one bogey in her opening round and collecting six birdies, three of which came consecutively on holes 12, 13 and 14.
“Going into this, I kind of just wanted to be super relaxed, not have expectations. And I'd say so far, it's worked out well,” said Chang. “It's tough going from LPGA to Epson. And I will say, I've struggled a bit over the last four years that I've played. But it doesn't change anything. I think the most important thing is to just stick to the routine and my game plan. And that's the plan for this week.”
A group of six players sit two shots behind the leader at 4-under heading into round two at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic. Play will resume tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. ET off both tees. A cut will be made to the top 60 and ties after round two concludes.
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