Nelly Korda shoots 69 in Founders, leaving her 6 shots back in bid for 6th LPGA Tour win in a row

CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) — Nelly Korda is going to have some work to do to win a record sixth straight LPGA Tour title, especially the way Rose Zhang is playing.

Korda shot a relatively mistake-free 3-under 69 early in the first round of the Cognizant Founders Cup on Thursday and then could only watch as the 20-year-old Zhang tied tghe tournament record with a 63 in the afternoon to take the lead.

In her winning streak, Korda has never trailed by more than eight strokes after the opening round. The 25-year-old was six back in this one with a slew of players ahead of her heading into the second round at the Upper Montclair Country Club.

Rain was in the forecast the next two days.

“There is still three more days,” said Korda, who had four birdies and a bogey. “You still have a lot of things that you — I know the weather is not supposed to be great and there is just different factors that go into the rest of the tournament. So it’s definitely nice to get a good round in. You know, still a long, long ways away from Sunday.”

Zhang also has to be a concern after needing only 25 putts in posting the best professional round of her career. The two-time NCAA champion from Stanford won New Jersey in her professional debut at the Mizuho Americas Open about a year ago. She has not won since but she played like a champion Thursday, a bogey-free round that included nine birdies.

Zhang had a two-shot lead over Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden, who set the tournament record in 2022. Leona Maguire of Ireland, Stephanie Kyriacou of Australia and Narin An of South Korea were three shots back and one ahead of Lindsey Weaver-Wright and Mel Reid of England.

“It was almost just auto-command kind of golf,” said Zhang, whose has missed two cuts in six starts this year. "I feel like in the last couple weeks it’s been a little bit difficult. I’ve been struggling a little bit with the golf swing and gaining confidence in my preparation.

“But going into this week I kind of let it all go; let the expectations go a little bit more,” she added. “I was able to free myself up a little bit, which was really nice to see some shots go in, especially on the greens. I was able to get some putting momentum in, so it was really nice.”

Korda, who fulfilled a childhood dream by walking on the red carpet at the Met Gala on Monday, played with defending champion Jin Young Ko (72) and 2022 winner Minjee Lee (70). They were followed by about 100 fans, who politely cheered the players. Among the fans were five women wearing black T-shirts with “Everyone Watches Nelly Korda” on the front.

Sagstrom, who finished third two years ago, had six birdies, an eagle and a bogey playing in the first threesome off the back nine. She finished 10th last year.

“This golf course first of all suits my eye really well,” Sagstrom said. “I’ve been playing around with the ball flight a little bit. My coach, Hans (Larsson), is in town. This is the third year he’s here, too. We love the golf course.”

Hannah Green, who has won twice on tour this year, including the JM Eagle Los Angeles Championship in the last tour event, also was at 69 along with Lydia Ko, who needs one more win to make the LPGA Hall of Fame.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Narin An, of South Korea, stands on the ninth green during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Leona Maguire, of Ireland, hits off the sixth tee during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Yuna Nishimura, of Japan, gestures after hitting off the second tee during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Georgia Hall, of England, lines up a shot on the second green during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Brooke Henderson, of Canada, hits off the 15th tee during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Nasa Hataoka, of Japan, hits off the 15th tee during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Hannah Green, of Australia, hits off the 16th tee during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Minjee Lee, of Australia, reacts after her putt on the 13th hole during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Minjee Lee, of Australia, hits off the 13th tee during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Jin Young Ko, of South Korea, hits off the 13th tee during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Madelene Sagstrom, of Sweden lines up shot on the second hole during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Nelly Korda reacts to her shot on the second green during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Nelly Korda looks after her shot off the 13th tee during the first round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The helicopter crash in which Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and other officials were killed is likely to reverberate across the Middle East, where Iran’s influence runs wide and deep.

That's because Iran has spent decades supporting armed groups and militants in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Palestinian territories, allowing it to project power and potentially deter attacks from the United States or Israel, the sworn enemies of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Tensions have never been higher than they were last month, when Iran under Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel in response to an airstrike on an Iranian Consulate in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and five officers.

Israel, with the help of the United States, Britain, Jordan and others, intercepted nearly all the projectiles. In response, Israel apparently launched its own strike against an air defense radar system in the Iranian city of Isfahan, causing no casualties but sending an unmistakable message.

The sides have waged a shadow war of covert operations and cyberattacks for years, but the exchange of fire in April was their first direct military confrontation.

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has drawn in other Iranian allies, with each attack and counterattack threatening to set off a wider war.

It's a combustible mix that could be ignited by unexpected events, such as Sunday's deadly crash.

Israel has long viewed Iran as its greatest threat because of Tehran's controversial nuclear program, its ballistic missiles and its support for armed groups sworn to Israel's destruction.

Iran views itself as the chief patron of Palestinian resistance to Israeli rule, and top officials for years have called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Raisi, who was a hard-liner viewed as a protégé and possible successor of Khamenei, chastised Israel last month, saying “the Zionist Israeli regime has been committing oppression against the people of Palestine for 75 years.”

“First of all we have to expel the usurpers, secondly we should make them pay the cost for all the damages they have created, and thirdly, we have to bring to justice the oppressor and usurper," he said.

Israel is believed to have carried out numerous attacks over the years targeting senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists.

There is no evidence Israel was involved in Sunday's helicopter crash, and Israeli officials have not commented on the incident.

Arab countries on the Persian Gulf have also long viewed Iran with suspicion, a key factor in the decision of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel in 2020, and of Saudi Arabia to consider such a move.

Iran has provided financial and other support over the years to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which led the Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the Gaza war, and the smaller but more radical Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which took part in it. But there is no evidence that Iran was directly involved in the attack.

Since the start of the war, Iran's leaders have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians. Their allies in the region have gone much further.

Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, Iran's most militarily advanced proxy, has waged a low-intensity conflict with Israel since the start of the Gaza war. The two sides have traded strikes on a near-daily basis along the Israel-Lebanon border, forcing tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee.

So far, however, the conflict has not boiled over into a full-blown war that would be disastrous for both countries.

Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq launched repeated attacks on U.S. bases in the opening months of the war but pulled back after U.S. retaliatory strikes for a drone attack that killed three American soldiers in January.

Yemen's Houthi rebels, another ally of Iran, have repeatedly targeted international shipping in what they portray as a blockade of Israel. Those strikes, which often target ships with no apparent links to Israel, have also drawn U.S.-led retaliation.

Iran's influence extends beyond the Middle East and its rivalry with Israel.

Israel and Western countries have long suspected Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons in the guise of a peaceful atomic program in what they see as a threat to non-proliferation everywhere.

Then-President Donald Trump's withdrawal from a landmark nuclear pact between Iran and world powers in 2018, and his imposition of crushing sanctions, led Iran to gradually abandon all the limits placed on its program by the deal.

These days, Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%. Surveillance cameras installed by the U.N. nuclear agency have been disrupted, and Iran has barred some of the agency's most experienced inspectors. Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes, but the United States and others believe it had an active nuclear weapons program until 2003.

Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed power in the Middle East but has never acknowledged having such weapons.

Iran has also emerged as a key ally of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, and is widely accused of supplying exploding drones that have wreaked havoc on Ukraine's cities. Raisi himself denied the allegations last fall in an interview with The Associated Press, saying Iran had not supplied such weapons since the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022.

Iranian officials have made contradictory comments about the drones, while U.S. and European officials say the sheer number being used in the war in Ukraine shows that the flow of such weapons has intensified since the war began.

In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams' vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (Azin Haghighi/Moj News Agency via AP)

An Iranian woman prays for President Ebrahim Raisi in a ceremony at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People pray for President Ebrahim Raisi in a ceremony at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE - People gather around a component from an intercepted ballistic missile that fell near the Dead Sea in Israel, Saturday, April 20, 2024. The apparent crash of a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other top officials is likely to reverberate across the Middle East. Tensions have soared since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and Israel and Iran directly traded fire for the first time ever in April. (AP Photo/Itamar Grinberg, File)

FILE - Iranian worshippers chant slogans during an anti-Israeli gathering after Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 19, 2024. The apparent crash of a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other top officials is likely to reverberate across the Middle East. Tensions have soared since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and Israel and Iran directly traded fire for the first time ever in April. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)