Bogey-Free 63 puts Buhai on Top at JM Eagle LA Championship

By Emily Cho

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The first round at the JM Eagle LA Championship is in the books, and Ashleigh Buhai shares the lead with a bogey-free 9-under round of 63—her lowest round of the 2025 season.

Buhai attributed good pin locations and having hit some good shots to her standout round. She also appreciated how she was able to be creative on the course.

“I like to see different shots, especially off the tee,” said Buhai. “It's just about playing to the right spaces and thinking your way round here. You can't just get up and hit it. I think that's why I like the course.”

Having started on the back nine, Buhai joked that she couldn’t remember her shots on any of the holes, but still recalled some highlights of the day.

“I hit an 8-iron…into 17…got me to 5-under on my front nine. I think it's 6, the par-3…I hit a really nice 5-hybrid into there and holed about a 12-footer,” she said. “Then lipped out for 10-under on the last hole. It's kind of crazy you're disappointed to lip-out for 10-under, but obviously it was a great day.”

Buhai felt a day like this was coming after playing well at the T-Mobile Match Play. She and her caddy both believed it was only a matter of time before everything clicked.

“I thought I played well in Phoenix. The course doesn't suit me much because I don't spin the ball very much, and it was so firm those two weeks,” Buhai explained. “My caddie said to me, the minute we got on a course where you can hold the greens a little bit, we are going to do well… finally, today it all came together.”

Buhai will look to maintain her momentum in tomorrow’s round and stay at the top of the leaderboard.