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LPGA Black Desert Championship: Round 1

The last words of encouragement Ali Mulhall received in the moments before the first swing of her LPGA Tour career naturally came from Chris Mulhall, her father and coach.

The second-to-last bit of advice Thursday afternoon was delivered by PGA Tour veteran Jay Don Blake. Both suggestions would resonate with Mulhall, five hours later.

“Just soak it all in, and remember your first tee shot,” Chris Mulhall told her.

“Play your game,” Blake said. “You fit in.”

Even after posting a 3-over-par 75 in the inaugural Black Desert Championship, the 2024 Women’s State Amateur runner-up was echoing Blake’s words. And she will savor a great drive, as her father hoped she would, although that epic blast came on No. 9.

The 19-year-old Mulhall represents Black Desert Resort and is playing via a sponsor invitation in Utah’s first LPGA Tour event in 61 years. She became the first Utah Junior Golf Association alumnus to play in an LPGA Tour event since Carrie Summerhays Roberts and Annie Thurman Young competed 20 years ago.

Mulhall maintained a strong presence in the UJGA, during a childhood spent in Green River, Wyoming; Morgan, Utah; and Henderson, Nevada. With her father having relocated his golf academy, Mulhall is listed as being from Ivins, site of Black Desert Resort.

Thursday’s snapshot of Utah golf history came when Blake greeted Mulhall near the practice green. The meeting came seven months after Blake made the 500th start of his PGA Tour career in another first-ever version of a Black Desert Championship, near his hometown of St. George.

Mulhall’s scorecard of two birdies and five bogeys left her needing to do something spectacular Friday morning to make the 36-hole cut, which likely will come at 2 under par. Haeran Ryu (photo below) is the leader at 63, followed by Ariya Juntarugan and Wei-Ling Hsu at 64.

Mulhall is promising to play more aggressively after being “a little too tentative out there,” she said, acknowledging how “nerves got to me a little bit.”

This setting may be familiar to her, but the stage looked and felt a lot different. “I guess just because it’s been my dream for so long,” she said, “it was just hard to realize that I was actually playing (in an LPGA Tour event).”

Mulhall’s first swing, and first hole, went nicely. But then came two bogeys, and some missed opportunities. She couldn’t get up and down for birdies from the greenside rough on the two front-nine par-5s, even after a 325-yard drive on No. 9.

She delivered her first LPGA birdie with a 20-foot putt on the par-4 No. 10, but then another trend came into play. On the next two holes, she hit irons off the tee, because a driver would have been risky with narrowing fairways. That left her with long approach shots, and she missed the greens, leading to bogeys.

Mulhall hit only three drivers off thee Thursday. Yet when she talks about being more aggressive, she just means being more committed on those second shots.

Mulhall two-putted for a birdie on the par-5 No. 13. But she bogeyed the par-3 No. 17, missing a short putt after lipping out her birdie attempt.

She hardly sounded defeated or deflated afterward, though. “My game is there,” she said. “I know I can compete out here.”

The goal for Friday? “Play more (of) my game,” she said, “and not so scared, I guess.”

Mulhall will teed off in today’s second round this morning at 7:11 MT.

Today’s broadcast schedule: 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. (NBC Digital); 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. (Golf Channel). Click here for LPGA Black Desert Championship leaderboard.

 

LPGA Black Desert Championship opening round recap written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe. All photos unless otherwise credited by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson.