Who is leading the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup after Day 1? Leaderboard explored

The 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup completed its first round on Thursday, May 9, at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, New Jersey. All eyes were on Nelly Korda, but other players grabbed the headlines.

Rose Zhang leads the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup after the first round with an astounding score of 9 under 63. Zhang took a two-stroke lead over Madelene Sagstrom, who also played a spectacular round (7-under 65).

Rose Zhang (Image via Getty).

2024 Cognizant Founders Cup Day 1 leaderboard

Below is the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup leaderboard after the first round (only players in the Top 50 were included):

• 1 Rose Zhang -9
• 2 Madelene Sagstrom -7
• T3 Narin An -6
• T3 Leona Maguire -6
• T3 Stephanie Kyriacou -6
• T6 Lindsey Weaver-Wright -5
• T6 Mel Reid -5
• T8 Marina Alex -4
• T8 Jin Hee Im -4
• T8 Grace Kim -4
• T8 Maria Fassi -4
• T8 Yan Liu -4
• T8 Alexa Pano -4
• T8 Pajaree Anannarukarn -4
• T8 Xiyu Lin -4
• T8 Carlota Ciganda -4
• T8 Roberta Liti -4
• T18 Gina Kim -3
• T18 Hinako Shibuno -3
• T18 Gabriela Ruffels -3
• T18 Hannah Green -3
• T18 Nasa Hataoka -3
• T18 Nelly Korda -3
• T18 Mary Liu -3
• T18 Peiyun Chien -3
• T18 Yu Jin Sung -3
• T18 Celine Borge -3
• T18 Sarah Kemp -3
• T18 Georgia Hall -3
• T18 Eun-Hee Ji -3
• T18 Mi Hyang Lee -3
• T18 Lydia Ko -3
• T18 Celine Boutier -3
• T18 Perrine Delacour -3
• T18 Xiaowen Yin -3
• T36 Yuri Yoshida -2
• T36 Olivia Cowan -2
• T36 Ruoning Yin -2
• T36 Minjee Lee -2
• T36 Alexandra Forsterling -2
• T36 Auston Kim -2
• T36 Jodi Ewart Shadoff -2
• T36 Wichanee Meechai -2
• T36 Pernilla Lindberg -2
• T36 Malia Nam -2
• T36 Paula Reto -2
• T36 Aline Krauter -2
• T48 Agathe Laisne -1
• T48 Laura Wearn -1
• T48 Matilda Castren -1
• T48 Gaby Lopez- 1
• T48 Linnea Strom -1
• T48 Cheyenne Knight -1
• T48 Hye-Jin Choi -1
• T48 Brooke M. Henderson -1
• T48 Wei-Ling Hsu -1
• T48 Hyo Joon Jang -1
• T48 Mao Saigo -1
• T48 Sofia Garcia -1
• T48 Gemma Dryburgh -1
• T48 Isi Gabsa -1
• T48 Nataliya Guseva -1
• T48 Esther Henseleit -1
• T48 Ashleigh Buhai -1
• T48 Andrea Lee -1
• T48 Angel Yin -1
• T48 Lauren Coughlin -1
• T48 Ariya Jutanugarn -1
• T48 Lexi Thompson -1

Rose Zhang's performance included nine birdies with no bogeys, to tie the Cognizant Founders Cup record for 18 holes. Her score of 63 was also the lowest record score in her LPGA Tour career.

Nelly Korda played her first round for a score of 3 under and sits T18, six strokes behind the leader. One stroke behind was Lydia Ko, who is one point shy of earning her exaltation to the LPGA Hall of Fame.