Well, folks, the FM Championship’s first round at TPC Boston didn’t just roll out the red carpet; it threw in a few curveballs, too.
And when the dust settled—metaphorically, of course—Marina Alex stood a stride ahead of the pack with a splendid bogey-free 68, claiming the lead at four-under.
It wasn’t a round that screamed “fireworks,” but it certainly hummed a steady, confident tune.
Darkness stopped play at 7:35 p.m., leaving one group still out there in the gloaming, setting up an early wake-up call to finish the job. The second round? Right on time at 7:15 a.m. Friday. Oh, joy.
Starting her day on the 10th tee, Alex teed off at 1:21 p.m. ET and got her round moving in the right direction quicker than a fox on a caffeine kick.
Birdies on the 11th and 12th holes? Check. Then, she strolled along with three straight pars—nothing flashy, but no bruises either. At the par-3 16th, Alex dropped another birdie, her golf ball listening to her whisper like it was on some kind of secret mission.
As the sun dipped lower, the leaderboard looked like a bus station in rush hour—ten players all gridlocked at three-under.
But Alex had a little something extra in her bag—a birdie on the par-5 7th that handed her the solo lead like a fine cigar.
She finished with two cool pars, locking up the first 18-hole lead in FM Championship history.
“I really like the course. Playing the practice rounds I felt like it set up well for my golf game, and it’s dried out a little bit even from Tuesday and yesterday, so that’s kind of helping me off the tee just get a little bit more distance,” said Alex.
“With that comes firmer greens, so it’s definitely similar to conditions of courses that I played well at in the past.
I think that kind of just is comfortable for me. Just felt like it wasn’t so long that I was hitting long clubs in.
I’m not the longest hitter, so being able to hit wedges and short irons despite the firmness of greens was helpful, and I managed my game really well today.”
This isn’t Alex’s first rodeo with a first-round lead. Oh no, the last time she was in this position, she went wire-to-wire to secure her first LPGA win at the 2018 Portland Classic.
Now, she’s on the hunt for her third victory, and her first since the 2022 FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship.
She’s had three top-10 finishes this season and sits at No. 58 in the Race to the CME Globe standings.
But, as Alex herself would tell you, golf isn’t always about the numbers. Sometimes, it’s about staying out of your own way.
“It’s hard. A lot of times it’s easy to go down the rabbit hole, but I do know that not that long ago there has been good golf.
Like Dana, Mizuho, ShopRite. You know, there has been really nice rounds of golf in there this year,” said Alex on keeping herself focused mentally despite not shooting a round in the 60s since the second round of the Dana Open in July.
“It’s just kind of really trying to be patient and waiting for the opportunity to show up. A lot of times you’re trying to force it, make that good round happen every week, every day. That’s the goal. You want to play good.
Sometimes trying to hit a perfect shot or trying to do things when maybe you should just be accepting of par is better than forcing the issue.”
Right on Alex’s tail are eight players who shot three-under 69s, tying for second. Among them is Nicole Broch Estrup, making her sixth LPGA start of the season and looking to top her best finish of T3 at the Dow Championship.
Estrup was quick to commend the challenging nature of TPC Boston: “The course is really nice.
Like I think it’s almost like a major course. Like it’s a proper golf course. You need to, yeah, think your way around and you’ve got to be — I mean, there is just not a lot of birdies out there and you can easily make bogeys.
The greens are super fast, firm as well, so like my bogey on 17 I felt like I hit a good shot in. I pitched it probably 15 shy of the pin and it rolled over the green with a pitching wedge.
I mean, it’s hard out there, but I do like that, and I think, yeah, I like it when it’s — when you don’t have to play super aggressive.”
Joining Estrup in the runner-up logjam are the ever-impressive Lauren Coughlin, who’s practically glowing this summer, and Jeeno Thitikul, fresh off a team win at the Dow Championship.
Add in 2024 rookie Yuri Yoshida, Allisen Corpuz, Haeran Ryu, Robyn Choi, and Yealimi Noh, and you’ve got yourself a motley crew chasing the leader.
Corpuz, seeking her first win since the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, noted the tricky transition from the slower greens in Scotland to the lightning-quick surfaces in Boston: “I think the big adjustment is coming over from Scotland really how slow they were and how fast they are this week.
They always get a little bumpy in the afternoon, but I also felt like some of the pins weren’t super accessible. Really just trying to make a good run at birdie and then walk away with par.”
As for the group of Agathe Laisne, Sandra Gal, and Muni He, they were just getting their groove on when the lights went out.
They’ll resume their first round on Friday at 7:30 a.m. sharp from the 8th hole. For the rest of the field, the second round kicks off at 7:15 a.m., which means we’re in for another day of jaw-dropping, head-scratching golf at the FM Championship. Keep the coffee brewing; this one’s just getting started.
