Charley Hull sets the pace in Arizona with 63 to lead LPGA's Ford Championship

CHANDLER, Ariz. (AP) — Charley Hull ended her long and active day without any blood seeping through her sock, only a bogey-free card of 9-under 63 that gave her a one-shot lead over Nanna Koertz Madsen in the opening round Thursday at the Ford Championship.

Nelly Korda, returning to work after skipping the Asia swing, rallied with four birdies on the back nine and opened with a 67 in her bid to catch up to Hull, who has been as entertaining as ever.

Key to Hull's round at Whirlwind Golf Club was her driver, and she wasn't even sure what to expect. She tweaked the club early in the week and had a TaylorMade official work on it.

“And I really, really, really hit it well today,” Hull said. “I felt like that put me in a lot of good positions. I putted pretty well. I chipped pretty well. I hit it pretty well with my iron shots.”

She was playing so well that Hull thought more about the four birdie putts that she narrowly missed instead of the nine that she made, including one stretch of five birdies in six holes around the turn.

Koertz Madsen also had nine birdies, offset by one bogey on the par-5 fifth. One of her birdies was a bonus, a bunker shot on the 10th hole that she felt would have gone 8 feet by the hole except that it hit the pin and dropped for a surprise birdie.

Brooke Henderson of Canada and Sei Young Kim were among eight players at 65 on a day of low scoring. The key was getting the ball in the fairway to handle firm greens.

Hull had quite the day. She awoke at 2 a.m. to call her family in England, and then headed to the gym at 4 a.m. and ran seven kilometers (4.4 miles) on the treadmill.

She is big on fitness these days. Her biggest goal that she has set for 2025 has nothing to do with golf, rather her bid to run a 5K in under 20 minutes. She went so hard at it earlier in the week that Hull noticed blood from her toe oozing through her sock.

She also made a $10,000 bet with fellow pro Ryan Evans that she will quit smoking.

All seems to be going well, especially on the golf course. She was rarely out of position and was putting for birdie or better on every hole. And she thinks it could have been better.

“I feel like I left actually a good four shots out there,” he said. “Like, the last I lipped on the left edge. The hole before I left it like an inch short. Went in the jaws on a few holes before and it just stayed out. Then I missed birdie putt on the front nine, and that was like from like 6 feet. So I’m looking back thinking, ‘Oh, I could have done more.’”

At one point on her second nine, she started thinking about a 59. And then she missed the putt.

“I was just trying to go as low as I could,” she said. “To be fair, my boyfriend said to me, ‘What will make me happy is seeing you on the top of the leaderboard and just smash it.’ That’s what I had in my head.”

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

Brooke Henderson, of Canada, hits from the 14th fairway during the first round of the Ford Championship LPGA golf event, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Nelly Korda hits from the first tee during the first round of the Ford Championship LPGA golf event, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Nelly Korda waves to the crowd on the first tee during the first round of the Ford Championship LPGA golf event, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Charley Hull, of England, chips onto the seventh green during the first round of the Ford Championship LPGA golf event, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Charley Hull, of England, hits from the eighth tee during the first round of the Ford Championship LPGA golf event, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Charley Hull, of England, reacts to missing her birdie putt on the eighth green during the first round of the Ford Championship LPGA golf event, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Russia views efforts to end its three-year war with Ukraine as “a drawn-out process,” a Kremlin spokesman said Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with the two countries’ leaders as he tries to bring about a truce.

“We are working to implement some ideas in connection with the Ukrainian settlement. This work is ongoing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

“There is nothing concrete yet that we could and should announce. This is a drawn-out process because of the difficulty of its substance,” he said when asked about Trump’s anger at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments dismissing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legitimacy to negotiate a deal.

Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting. The feasibility of a partial ceasefire on the Black Sea, used by both countries to transport shipments of grain and other cargo, was cast into doubt after Kremlin negotiators imposed far-reaching conditions.

Trump promised during last year’s U.S. election campaign that he would bring Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II to a swift conclusion.

Peskov didn’t directly address Trump’s criticism of Putin on Sunday when he said he was “angry, pissed off” that Putin had questioned Zelenskyy’s credibility as leader.

But he said that Putin “remains absolutely open to contacts” with the U.S. president and was ready to speak to Trump.

Both countries are preparing for a spring-summer campaign on the battlefield, analysts and Ukrainian and Western officials say.

Zelenskyy said late Sunday that there has been no let-up in Russia’s attacks as it drives on with its invasion of its neighbor that began in February 2022. He said the attacks demonstrated Russia’s unwillingness to forge a settlement.

“The geography and brutality of Russian strikes, not just occasionally, but literally every day and night, show that Putin couldn’t care less about diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said in his daily address.

“And almost every day, in response to this proposal, there are Russian drones, bombs, artillery shelling, and ballistic strikes,” he said.

He urged further international pressure on Moscow to compel Russia to negotiate, including new sanctions.

Trump said he would consider adding further sanctions on Russia, which already faces steep financial penalties, and using tariffs to undermine its oil exports.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, came under another Russian drone attack overnight, injuring three people, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said Monday.

Russia also fired two ballistic missiles and 131 Shahed and decoy drones, the Ukrainian air force said.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 66 Ukrainian drones early Monday over three Russian regions.

“The continuing attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces on Russia’s energy facilities show the complete lack of respect for any obligations related to the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine by the Kyiv regime,” the ministry said in a statement.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Sunday, March 30, 2025, a Russian Army 2S5 howitzer Giatsint-S fires towards Ukrainian positions in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

A Ukrainian military boat CB90 of Military Naval Forces patrols Black Sea coast line of Odesa region, Ukraine, on March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Sunday, March 30, 2025, a Russian Army 2S5 howitzer Giatsint-S fires towards Ukrainian positions in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)