Ayaka Furue, A Lim Kim and Auston Kim atop leaderboard at China LPGA event

Ayaka Furue, A Lim Kim and Auston Kim are atop the leaderboard at the LPGA’s Blue Bay tournament in China with opening round scores of 4-under 68

SANYA, China — Ayaka Furue, A Lim Kim and Auston Kim were atop the leaderboard at the LPGA’s Blue Bay tournament with opening round scores of 4-under 68 on Thursday.

Jeeno Thitikul, the world No. 2, was a shot back with seven other players on China’s southern island of Hainan.

In a very crowded field on the first day, 12 more players were just two shots off the pace after rounds of 70.

No. 4-ranked Ruoning Yin carded a par 72 in front of her home fans.

Defending champion Bailey Tardy shot a 3-over 75 and was seven shots off the lead.

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