Andrea Lee has a big finish for a 66 to the lead the Mizuho Americas Open

WEST CALDWELL, N.J. (AP) — Andrea Lee surprised even herself Thursday when she walked off the 18th green at Mountain Ridge with four birdies over her last five holes for a 6-under 66, giving her a one-shot lead over Jeeno Thitikul and Lydia Ko in the Mizuho Americas Open.

They were among only nine players to break 70 on a course that put a premium on keeping the ball in play and being on the right side of the hole on contoured, slick greens.

“I really didn't see 6 under today to be honest, so I'm quite pleased by that,” Lee said. “The game plan going into today was just staying really patient, trying to hit as many greens and fairways as possible, and just know that pars is good score and trying to minimize bogeys.”

The tournament, which features a separate Stableford competition for 24 top players from the American Junior Golf Association, is at Mountain Ridge for the first time. The course previously hosted the Founders Cup in 2021.

Missing this week is Nelly Korda, who won her last two tournaments, including a major at The Chevron Championship, to return to No. 1 in the world.

The player she replaced, Jeeno Thitikul, took a big stride in the right direction. Thitikul, who missed the cut at The Chevron, drove into the rough on the par-5 eighth. The ball was sitting up, and she ripped it onto the green to 20 feet for eagle.

“Wasn’t a good beginning, but ended up really nice,” she said.

Thitikul closed out her round with a pitching wedge that cleared a mound and rolled out to 2 feet for birdie on the par-3 16th.

Players caught a little break with only a moderate wind, and it didn't hurt to have some showers come through the area the day before the tournament to take some of the fire out of green. Still, it was key not to have putts above the hole, especially with false fronts on some of the greens.

“If they're not watering the green, and if we get really breezy coming in a couple of days, should be tough, for sure,” Thitikul said. “That's why I'm saying it's like a major.”

Ko got her mistake out of the way quickly, a bogey on the 11th hole that a pin tucked just over a false front on the right side. It was rough for everyone. Brooke Henderson had it in an ideal spot, over the false front and about 25 feet away pin-high, only to putt it off the green.

Ko responded beautifully, going birdie-eagle, and finishing her front nine with a pair of birdies. She was pleased with her putting — another new putter this week — and felt she hadn't felt this good on the greens since she shot 60 in Phoenix earlier this year. That week also featured a new putter.

“There are some putts you’re aiming so far out that hole is not even in your peripheral vision anymore,” Ko said. “It reminds me a little bit of Lancaster Country Club where we played the U.S. Women’s Open a couple years ago. That was some of the sloppiest and fastest greens I had played on. I did not putt well there. This is a good start.”

Brooke Matthews had a chance to join Lee atop the leaderboard. She was at 6 under until a double bogey on the last hole for a 68, leaving her tied with Hye-Jin Choi.

The group of players at 69 included Hannah Green and Nasa Hataoka.

Michelle Wie-West, the tournament host, came out of retirement to play as she plans to play the U.S. Women's Open one last time next month at Riviera. It did not go well. She had two double bogeys and a triple bogey in her round of 82.

Wie-West, a mother of two, was competing for the first time in three years.

“Golf can take you places, and I went places today,” she said. "But you've got to see the big picture at the end of the day. I’m so proud of what we built here. I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to have the space to play today.

“It’s just great to be out here. It’s great to feel the vibes.”

She wasn't alone in her struggles. Three other players failed to break 80. That included Lottie Woad, the No. 10 player in the world, and Brianna Do, who shared the 36-hole lead with Korda last week in the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba.

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

Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, hits off the 17th tee during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open golf tournament, Thursday, May 7, 2026, in West Caldwell, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Michelle Wie West hits off the second tee during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open LPGA golf tournament, Thursday, May 7, 2026, in West Caldwell, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Jeeno Thitikul, of Thailand, waves after making a putt on the 13th hole during the second round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Andrea Lee reacts after sinking her putt on the ninth green during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open LPGA golf tournament, Thursday, May 7, 2026, in West Caldwell, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A judge sentenced a man to life in prison without the possibility of parole Thursday after he pleaded guilty to killing one person and injuring a dozen others in a 2025 firebombing attack on a demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Speaking to the court through an interpreter, Mohamed Sabry Soliman apologized to the victims and expressed regret for the attack last June as not in line with Islamic teaching.

Yet Soliman, an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the U.S. illegally, targeted the victims because they were Jewish, Boulder County District Judge Nancy Salomone pointed out before sentencing him.

“You chose a time and a place and a set of circumstances and weapons that were designed to inflict the most pain that you could,” Salomone said.

Besides life in prison, Soliman's sentence includes hundreds of years for dozens of charges including attempted murder, assault and attempted assault.

The June 1 attack rattled Boulder, a scenic city of 100,000 people near the mountains northwest of Denver.

Posing as a gardener, Soliman attacked the demonstrators on Pearl Street, a quaint downtown pedestrian mall lined with shops and restaurants. Jewish community members had been demonstrating there weekly in support of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.

Yelling “Free Palestine," Soliman lit and threw two Molotov cocktails out of 18 he'd brought in a box. The bursting bottles filled with gasoline badly burned Karen Diamond, 82, and injured a dozen others.

Diamond died three weeks later after what her sons in a statement called “indescribable pain.”

Soliman still faces federal hate crimes charges. He has pleaded not guilty while prosecutors in that case weigh whether to seek the death penalty.

The attack could have been even worse, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told the court before the sentencing. Soliman tried twice to buy a gun and was denied, Dougherty said. So he “decided to set them on fire" in what Dougherty called a “cowardly” crime.

Soliman entered the U.S. in August 2022 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2023. He filed for asylum and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that also expired, federal authorities said.

He worked a series of low-paying jobs. At the time of the attack, Soliman was living with his wife and their five children in an apartment in Colorado Springs.

Federal authorities alleged Soliman planned the attack for a year, and an FBI affidavit said Soliman told police after his arrest that he sought "to kill all Zionist people," a reference to the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel.

Soliman said in court that he respected Jewish people he has known, but questioned the deaths of innocent people in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

“Yes, I am against Israel and I can’t deny that. And that is my right,” Soliman said.

Soliman’s federal defense lawyers argue he should not have been charged with hate crimes because he was motivated by opposition to Zionism. An attack motivated by someone’s political views is not considered a hate crime under federal law.

State prosecutors identified 29 victims in the attack. Thirteen were physically injured. The others were considered victims because they could have been hurt. A dog was also injured in the attack, and Soliman was charged with animal cruelty.

Soliman’s wife, Hayam El Gamal, and their children spent 10 months in immigration detention until April, when a federal judge in Texas ordered their release. The couple divorced in April.

An immigration appeals court had dismissed their case to stay in the U.S. and issued a deportation order. But U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in San Antonio allowed their release on the condition that El Gamal and her oldest child, who is 18, wear electronic monitoring.

Soliman’s attorneys seek to block the family’s deportation until a judge determines they won’t need to be present for court proceedings in his federal case.

Associated Press writer Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this story.

FILE - Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)

FILE - Bouquets of flowers stand along a makeshift memorial for victims of an attack outside of the Boulder County courthouse on June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)