Unheralded Epson Tour player Mariel Galdiano is sitting on a lead in an LPGA event, as she opened the Standard Portland Classic with a 7-under-par 65 on Thursday in Portland, Ore.
Galdiano made nine birdies at Columbia Edgewater Country Club as she posted her best round in an LPGA event since first qualifying for the tour last year.
The Hawaii native, ranked No. 383 in the world, has a one-stroke lead over seven players entering Round 2, and she feels not far from home.
“I love coming up to the Pacific Northwest,” Galdiano said. “Like great weather, good food, it’s kind of close to Hawaii for me, so I feel pretty relaxed out here.”
Galdiano, 28, set herself back by bogeying the opening hole but immediately earned the stroke back with a birdie at the par-3 second. She strung three birdies together at Nos. 5-7 before a busy back nine that featured five birdies and just one more bogey.
This is just her fourth start on the LPGA Tour this season after a less-than-fruitful rookie season that saw her miss eight cuts in 14 events.
“It feels really good,” Galdiano said. “I mean, it’s a tough grind. Last year was my rookie year and I didn’t play as well as I wanted to, but I’m feeling a lot more confident in myself and in my game. So I know I can play out here. It’s just a matter of when, not if.”
Colombian amateur Maria Jose Marin had five consecutive birdies at Nos. 5-9 and added a pair at Nos. 16 and 17 on her way to a 6-under 66.
Marin is a highly successful amateur who won this year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur along with the 2025 NCAA individual championship for Arkansas. After earning a top-10 finish at the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this summer, Marin is in position to make a run at her first LPGA win.
“I think I reached like a flow state that I haven’t reached in a while,” Marin said. “After the British Open, I didn’t play my best golf, and I think getting that confidence back with this round is all that I needed. I hit the perfect shots, I had the perfect numbers and the putts just rolled in.
Marin added a big thank-you to her caddie.
“I have my dad (on) the bag, so I fully trust every break that he gave me,” she said.
Tied with Marin for second are Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol, Germany’s Olivia Cowan, Australia’s Grace Kim, South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi, Ireland’s Lauren Walsh and the Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan.
Kim, a one-time major winner (2025 Evian), birdied Nos. 10-12 to begin her round and had another three straight at Nos. 17, 18 and 1. She eagled the par-5 seventh and birdied the par-3 eighth to climb to 7 under before a closing bogey prevented her from taking a share of the lead.
“It’s a birdie-fest out here, so making sure I stay in the present, not get too greedy, and, yeah, just try and make heaps of birdies out there,” Kim said.
To Kim’s point, a whopping 16 players are tied at 5-under 67, including Haeran Ryu of South Korea, winner of two majors this year.