Jeon, Hull set early pace at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican
By Jeff Babineau
BELLEAIR, Fla. – Jiwon Jeon of Korea has encountered more obstacles than she cares to remember in her first few seasons on the LPGA. Before she could even make a start as a rookie in 2020, Covid hit the world, halting the schedule and limiting her starts. In 2021, it was a nagging thumb injury that slowed her. Jeon ended up regaining a card through the Epson Tour in 2023.
Going back to LPGA Final Qualifying – formerly known as Q-School – is something she is trying hard to avoid this week at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, likely her final start on this season’s schedule. Mathematically, the top 106 in the current points standings still can advance to next week’s CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, but it’s a tall mountain to climb.
Jeon, 27, has been the queen of aces this season on the LPGA, and in Thursday’s opening round, on her third hole of the day, Pelican’s 12th, she made her third of the season, holing a hybrid at the 151-yard par 3. It helped to give her the fast start that she was looking for in the opening round, sharing the lead after one round alongside England’s Charley Hull. Both opened with 6-under 64s.
Gemma Dryburgh and Mi Hyang Lee were one shot out after 65s. Nelly Korda, a two-time champion of The ANNIKA and current World No. 1, returned from a neck injury to shoot 66 and is in a pack of six lurking just two shots from the lead.
Jeon started the week at 98th in the LPGA’s Race to CME Globe. She needs to finish among the top 100 to keep a card, and top 80 to have the best status for next season. She is likely too far down the list to break into the top 60 to play in next week’s CME Group Tour Championship, where first place pays $4 million. For many, that – and a winner’s share of $487,000 – is on the table this week.
Hull, 28, is at the stage of her career where doesn’t have to worry about her keeping a card. She is ranked 12th in the world, and a Solheim Cup regular for Europe. She won recently in Riyahd on the Ladies European Tour, and came to the realization she probably ought to be winning more on this side of the world. Hull has played the LPGA since 2015, and owns two victories.
“I feel like I have been playing very, very well all year,” said Hull, who began her morning on the back nine and made seven birdies against a lone bogey in her round. “Sometimes you just forget how to win. So that’s kind of reminded me how to win.”
There are 120 players in this week’s field, and not all were able to finish as play was stopped by darkness at 5:48 p.m. The second round begins at 7 a.m. Friday. Six players who did not finish on Thursday will complete the first round at 7:30.
Korda played alongside last year’s ANNIKA champion, Lilia Vu, and Patty Tavatanakit Thursday in the featured pairing of the morning. She experienced a lull in the middle of her round, having made only one start since mid-September’s Solheim Cup, and owned two birdies over her first 13 holes. Korda, a six-time winner in 2024, then managed to find another gear. She birdied 14 (7-wood to 25 feet), 15 (5-iron, 20 feet), 17 (wedge to 1 foot) and finished big, chipping in for birdie after missing the green with an 8-iron at the 428-yard 18th.
Korda, 26, was sidelined by migraine headaches and a neck injury in recent weeks, and though she has been playing at home in Bradenton, it’s been in a golf cart. Thursday was the first time she had walked 18 holes since September’s Kroger Queen City Championship. Fatigue was a factor in the middle of her round, but she made some key par-saving putts to keep momentum.
The course was hit by Hurricane Milton a month ago, but has bounced back nicely. Korda said the greens were "slick", and had a few birdie putts run out to 4 and 5 feet past the hole.
"I had a couple par saves like that (5-footers) where I had to make some longer putts than I wanted to," she said. "Good confidence boosters."
In the closing stretch, Korda and her caddie, Jason McDede, talked through how Korda had been playing and Korda focused on finishing strong, which she did. Playing at Pelican, and in Florida in general, puts Korda in a comfortable place.
Jeon, the tournament leader, hopes to get herself into a more comfortable place, at least with job security, over the days ahead. Thursday was a great start, but there is a lot of golf to be played. Jeon said she already has put in ample hours of practice this week to prepare, and now it comes down to executing the shots.
“I’m trying to take some pressure off myself and trying to really focus on getting my mindset very, like, confident,” she said. “I am trying to trust my process. It’ll pay off.”
Scotland’s Dryburgh and Lee, of Korea, posted the best rounds of the afternoon at Pelican, each player shooting 5-under 65.
Certainly this season Jeon’s play has paid off handsomely for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Each hole-in-one she has made has meant a $20,000 donation from the LPGA to St. Jude in Jeon’s name.
On Thursday, she ran the season’s tally to $60,000. This was the first of her three that Jeon has been able to see go in the hole, and even then, she said she wasn’t sure it was in until she saw a few fans high-fiving behind the green. She also made 1s in Portland (8-iron) and China (5-iron). She now has four in all, three in competition.
“I want to keep doing it, but it’s hard,” Jeon said of her run of aces. “I was really glad I was able to help the children out there who need help.”
Now Jeon can concentrate on helping herself over the next few days, and keeping her card.
