Caitlin Peirce set the pace at the 2026 Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic, carding a bogey-marred but scintillating 9-under-par 63 at Wildhorse Golf Course to take the outright lead after the first round. The Australian made 10 birdies against a single bogey, highlighted by a stretch of six birdies over her final nine holes.

“Nothing crazy, a lot of like two-putt 30 footers on the par 5s and then sort of around that like 10-15 feet range,” Peirce said of her birdie looks. Asked which putt stood out, she pointed to a wedge on the par-3 8th: “I hit it to two feet on eight. That was like probably the most stress-free.”

Peirce's 63 fell one shot shy of the tournament's 18-hole scoring record of 62, a mark shared by Julia Gregg (2025) and Pavarisa Yoktuan (2022) — with Gregg among the group chasing Peirce just a shot back on Friday.

Peirce, who has climbed into contention several times already this season without closing the deal, said the experience is starting to pay off: “The more that I'm in this experience it's sort of easier to do it again.” She wasn't surprised by how low the scoring went across the board: “The course is playing really nice. The greens are rolling well, and it's definitely not like the longest course we've played. So, I knew there was going to be a lot of birdies out there.”

A group of five players sit tied for second at 8-under 64: Morgan Miller, Jieni Li, Kaleigh Telfer, Julia Gregg and Cholcheva Wongras. Miller, whose lone bogey was offset by an eagle on the par-5 5th, said she has leaned on her putting during off weeks to back up strong ball-striking: “I feel like I've been hitting it pretty well all season, but if you're not making putts, you're making a score. So that's been a major focus in my off weeks.” Telfer, who trimmed nearly a full three shots off her previous season-low round, credited a week of work on the greens: “I worked really hard over the week off with my putting and I finally saw some putts go in and once I saw a couple go in, just gained a little bit of confidence.”

Gregg, who tied the course record here a year ago, played bogey-free and said a win this week “would just be a kind of culmination of everything I've been working towards” this season.

Wongras, who won the Reliance Matrix Championship in May in record-breaking fashion, also played bogey-free and is eyeing a second win of her rookie season: “It would be great if I can win again, like hopefully I will win again.”

Li, playing in her rookie season, was equally clean around Wildhorse Golf Course and said she used last week's off week to recharge after missing the cut in Knoxville, spending time with a friend in Oklahoma City: “We just took days off and then tried to think about something that's not about golf and enjoy the life a little bit.”

Second-round tee times begin at 7:15am local time tomorrow morning.

Caitlin Peirce Fires 9-Under 63 to Take Sole Lead After Opening Round of the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic

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