“It was a fun day”: Elizabeth Szokol shares her verdict after taking surprise lead at HSBC Women’s World Championship

Elizabeth Szokol registered a surprising lead at the 2023 HSBC Women's World Championship after the first round on Thursday, March 2.

The American golfer could not have had a better start to the tournament than with a birdie on the first hole. She then went on to make two consecutive birdies on the fifth and the sixth hole followed by two more on the eighth and ninth holes.

Szokol sank eight birdies in total to finish at 64 to top the leaderboard tally. Speaking about her performance, Elizabeth Szokol said:

"Yeah, after that bogey, I just kind of focused on making birdies and made a few longer putts, and then got a little more comfortable and started hitting some good iron shots in and had some closer looks. So it was a fun day.”

Danielle Kang secured second position with a scoring deficit of six, followed by Chella Choi, Leona Maguire, Mina Harigae, Hannah Green, Carlota Ciganda, Yuka Saso, and Jeongeun Lee6, who were settled for third position after the opening round.

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The early and professional life of Elizabeth Szokol

Born in 1995, Elizabeth Szokol was an injury-prone athlete. She had knee surgery during her school days.

Szokol experienced her first knee injury when she was 12, after playing tennis and softball. She then switched her career to golf at the age of 14.

Elizabeth Szokol led her school team to the 2010 Illinois State Championship. During her sophomore days while studying at Northwestern University, Szokol made the Academic All-Big Ten and second-team All-Big Ten.

She turned professional in 2017. Elizabeth started her journey on the Symetra Tour and recorded six top-10 finishes in her rookie season. She also finished runner-up at the Four Winds Invitational.

The University of Virginia native recorded her first professional victory at the IOA Invitational. She registered a four-stroke victory over Pajaree Anannarukan. She then went on to finish fourth on the Symetra Tour's official Money List and earned an LPGA Tour card for the 2019 season.

In her four years of playing on the Ladies Tour, Elizabeth made 10 cuts in 20 starts and finished in a tie for sixth at the Aberdeen Standard Investment Ladies Scottish Open.

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2023 HSBC Women’s World Championship participants

• Marina Alex
• Narin An
• Pajaree Anannarukarn
• Celine Boutier
• Ashleigh Buhai
• Matilda Castren
• Tiffany Chan
• Chella Choi
• Hye-Jin Choi
• In Gee Chun
• Carlota Ciganda
• Allisen Corpuz
• Gemma Dryburgh
• Jodi Ewart Shadoff
• Maria Fassi
• Ayaka Furue
• Linn Grant
• Hannah Green
• Georgia Hall
• Mina Harigae
• Nasa Hataoka
• Brooke Henderson
• Eun Hee Ji
• Ariya Jutanugarn
• Moriya Jutanugarn
• Danielle Kang
• Megan Khang
• A Lim Kim
• Hyo Joo Kim
• Sei Young Kim
• Cheyenne Knight
• Jin Young Ko
• Lydia Ko
• Jessica Korda
• Nelly Korda
• Jennifer Kupcho
• Alison Lee
• Andrea Lee
• Minjee Lee
• Jeongeun Lee6
• Stacy Lewis
• Xiyu Lin
• Yu Liu
• Gaby Lopez
• Nanna Koerstz Madsen
• Leona Maguire
• Anna Nordqvist
• Ryann O'Toole
• Pornanong Phatlum
• Paula Reto
• Madelene Sagstrom
• Mao Saigo
• Lizette Salas
• Yuka Saso
• Sarah Schmelzel
• Sophia Schubert
• Yuting Shi
• Hinako Shibuno
• Jenny Shin
• Maja Stark
• Elizabeth Szokol
• Amanda Tan
• Patty Tavatanakit
• Atthaya Thitikul
• Lilia Vu
• Amy Yang