Yu Hae-ran opens Evian Championship in tie for third, chasing back-to-back majors

Yu Hae-ran opened the Amundi Evian Championship — the fourth major of the LPGA Tour season, with a purse of $9.1 million — in a tie for third place Thursday.

Playing at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France (par 71, 6,479 yards), Yu carded six birdies and one bogey for a 5-under-par 66, sharing third place with Im Jin-hee, Charley Hull of England, Maja Stark of Sweden and Saigo Mao of Japan. Im also finished at 5 under despite dropping shots on the first and last holes, offsetting them with seven birdies.

Yu won her first major title at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship last month, and Thursday's strong start puts her in position to claim consecutive major titles.

Iwai Akie of Japan led the field with a bogey-free 8-under 63, two strokes ahead of second-place Perrine Delacour of France.

Yu teed off on the 10th hole alongside world No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States and Lottie Woad of England, and showed sharp ball-striking from the outset. She made her first birdie at the par-4 12th, then strung together birdies at the par-3 14th, par-3 16th and par-5 18th to finish the front nine 4 under.

Yu kept pace with the leaders by birdieing the par-4 3rd on the back nine, then dropped a shot at the par-3 8th, but recovered with a closing birdie at the par-5 9th to wrap up a solid opening round. Playing partner Korda struggled to a 3-over 74, leaving her in a tie for 102nd and in danger of missing the cut.

Yu averaged 271 yards off the tee, hit 84.6 percent of fairways and found 83.3 percent of greens in regulation, needing only 28 putts for the round. "My iron shots were good today and I didn't make any big mistakes with the putter," she said in a post-round interview. "If my ball-striking and long putting hold up over the next three days, I think I can put up a good score."

Kang Min-ji was tied for eighth at 4-under 67. Choi Woon-jung and Lee So-mi both shot 3-under 68 to share 15th place.

Kim Hyo-joo, ranked third in the world and coming off a victory at last week's Lotte Championship, opened in a tie for 20th at 2-under 69, with four birdies and two bogeys. Yoon I-na and Kim Sei-young matched that score.

Hwang Yu-min, world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand and national team member Yang Yun-seo all struggled to 1-over 72, sharing 69th place. Defending champion Grace Kim of Australia sits in a tie for 87th after a 2-over 73.