Madsen, Kupcho share lead at LPGA Founders Cup

Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen and American Jennifer Kupcho each fired a six-under-par 65 to share the lead after Thursday’s first round of the LPGA Tour’s Founders Cup.

Kupcho birdied three of the last six holes while Madsen birdied two of her last three at Bradenton Country Club in Florida.

“I was very pleased with the round,” Madsen said. “I think my iron game was the better part. I did make some good putts here and there.

“I think biggest key for me is to be good mentally out there, just stay happy, not let the bad shots get too much to your head.”

The 30-year-old Dane won her only LPGA Tour title at the 2022 LPGA Thailand event, beating China’s Lin Xiyu with an eagle on the second playoff hole. Madsen also won the 2016 Tipsport Masters on the Ladies European Tour.

Kupcho, a 27-year-old American, seeks her fourth LPGA crown but her first since 2022, when she won a Major at the Chevron Championship, the Meijer LPGA Classic and the Great Lakes Bay Invitational pairs event with Lizette Salas.

“It was pretty solid,” Kupcho said of her first 18 holes. “I hit the ball pretty well. I think when I needed to not hit an iron shot as well it worked out, and when I needed to smash one, the ball went as far as it needed to go. It just was a day of everything was going right.”

Madsen, a back-nine starter, reeled off five birdies in a row from the 16th hole. She sandwiched bogeys at the 3rd and 5th holes around a birdie and closed with birdies at the par-three 7th and par-five 8th and a par at the par-three 9th.

“There’s a lot of the space off the tee and I needed that,” Madsen said. “It was overall really solid golf.”

Kupcho birdied the 2nd but took her lone bogey at the 3rd hole. She answered with birdies at the par-five 6th and par-three 9th then birdied the par-three 11th, 13, the par-three 15th and par-four 16th before closing with back-to-back pars.

“My ball flights were all real good,” she said. “I switched golf balls in the off-season, so just to see the consistency of the golf ball was really nice, especially in wind.”

Americans Angel Yin and Lauren Coughlin and South Korea’s Im Jin-hee were one stroke back on 66.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda, who won here last year on her hometown course, and South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai both shot three-under 68 to share 12th position.