Sponsor invite Akie Iwai leads the LPGA Thailand golf tournament by 3 strokes after 10-under 62

PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) — Akie Iwai made the best of a sponsor's invite to shoot a 10-under 62 and lead by three strokes after the first round of the LPGA's Thailand tournament at Siam Country Club's Pattaya Old Course.

The Japanese player started with four birdies before picking up three more by the turn. She birdied three of her last four holes, equaling the 18-hole record set by countrywoman Yuka Saso in 2022 and American Jessica Korda in 2018.

“Today, my shots and my putting were good," said Iwai, who has twice played the course in a tournament. “I’ve learned where to miss and where not to miss. I am getting to know the golf course very well.”

The 22-year-old Iwai earned her LPGA tour membership after finishing in a tie for fifth at the LPGA Final Qualifier last year.

Three shots behind was world No. 27 Maja Stark of Sweden, who had an eagle on the fifth hole along with six birdies and one bogey for a 65. Local favorite Moriya Jutanugarn, with six birdies and a bogey, was third with a 66.

Birthday girl Jeeno Thitikul, the world No. 2 who turned 22 on Thursday, had a 68, while defending champion Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand shot 71.

The event is the first stop of the LPGA's so-called Asian swing before the tour moves to Singapore and China over the next two weeks.

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Yealimi Noh of the U.S. watches her shot on the 1st hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Yealimi Noh of the U.S. watches her shot on the 1st hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Ruoning Yin of China watches her shot on the 2nd hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Chisato Iwai of Japan watches her shot on the 1st hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand watches her shot on the 17th hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand watches her shot on the 1st hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand hits second shot from the 1st fairway during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Hye-Jin Choi of South Korea watches her shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Jin Young Ko of South Korea hits out of a bunker on the 8th green during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Mao Saigo of Japan hits a tee shot on the first hole of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Mao Saigo of Japan watches her tee shot on the first hole of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand reacts after playing on the 1st hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Esther Henseleit of Germany hits from a fairway 18th during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Maja Stark of Sweden watches her shot on the 18h hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand chips the ball on green from the 1st hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Angel Yin of the U.S. watches her shot on the 18th hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan) .

Hye-Jin Choi of South Korea watches her shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Akie Iwai of Japan reacts on the 16th green during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

Akie Iwai of Japan prepares for her shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the LPGA Honda Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya, southern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kittinun Rodsupan)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.

The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.

Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.

A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)