Leona Maguire endured a difficult opening round to the first major of the women's golf season after a four-over 76 left her 11 shots adrift of the lead at the Chevron Championship.
The Cavan native had made a solid start around the Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, Texas with birdies on the third and fourth holes.
But she was back on level par by the turn after bogeys on the fifth and seventh.
Another birdie on 10 had Maguire back under par. Her round unravelled from there as she bogeyed five of her last seven holes on Thursday.
That leaves her tied for 106th going into Friday's second round.
World number two Nelly Korda leads the way after the American found another gear over the back half of her round to build a two-shot advantage.
Korda pocketed two birdies over holes 10-18 to begin her round before heating up from there. Korda sank three straight birdies on the first, second and third, then added a pair on the seventh and eighth to finish her round with a seven-under-par 65.
Tied for second at five under are Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit and South Korea's Somi Lee.
Tavatanakit began her day with two birdies among her first three holes and never wavered, despite coming into the tournament with just one top-10 finish to her credit. That came last time out, when she finished in a tie for fifth at the JM Eagle LA Championship.
She added birdies on the eighth, 15th and 17th in a bogey-free performance.
Lee, a winner at the 2025 Dow Championship, carded six birdies and was in line for an even better finish before she suffered a bogey on her final hole of the day, the ninth.
Amateur Farah O'Keefe is part of a group of four more golfers three shots back at four under. Like Lee, she suffered a bogey on the troublesome ninth to counterbalance her five-birdie day. She is tied with France's Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Japan's Yuri Yoshida and China's Yan Liu.
Ten players are tied for eighth at three under: Ryann O'Toole, Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen, France's Nastasia Nadaud, Japan's Sora Kamiya, England's Mimi Rhodes, Linnea Strom and Maja Stark of Sweden and South Korea's Yunseo Yang, Ina Yoon and Jin Hee Im. Yang is also an amateur and eagled her first hole of the championship.
Defending champion Mao Saigo of Japan struggled to a one-over 73.
Additional reporting: Reuters
