Stephanie Meadow didn’t mind the inclement weather conditions during the first round of the LPGA’s Canadian Open on Thursday.
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She completed her round in style by sinking a tricky five-foot par putt with her assured cross-handed putting stroke at the scenic Priddis Greens Golf & Country Club in Calgary. As Ko was making her way up the ninth, her final frame of the day, Henderson was roughly 100 yards away strolling down the first, on route to making birdie following a huge ovation on the tee.
“It was gray and it looked like it was rain and windy, so that’s pretty much Ireland in a nutshell”, Meadow said.
“The day that Mike Weir accepted the invitation to the Hall of Fame was the day that I said if they come to me while I’m still playing I will welcome it”. “It’s always really nice to have that support and know that the whole country is behind me, and not only Canada but around the world”. I’ve done it a lot, even though it’s when I was little. “That tells you the impact she’s already having in golf, because I see that in Phoenix, I see that in Seattle, I see that in Chicago”.
Henderson’s bid to medal in the Olympics in Rio came up just short last week, but she said she likes the momentum she brings to the Pacific Canadian Women’s Open in Calgary with the event beginning Thursday.
South Korea’s Mirim Lee held the early lead of 5 under through 13 holes when players were shuttled off the course due to lightning in the area at 11:44 a.m.
– Play was called at 8:23 p.m. local time with just under half the field still on the golf course.
Mi Jung Hur, also of South Korea, then birdied the 18th hole just after Lee signed her scorecard to pull into a tie for the lead.
Ko finished with a silver medal for South Korea at the Olympics and is a three-time victor of the Canadian Open. The greens are super fast. “I’ll do some practice.and try and get everything nearly flawless and then I will go out and try my best for the next four days and we’ll see what happens”.
“I’ve had enough time to play with her to see she’s got all kinds of game”.
Ko, who last week claimed the Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro, won her first Canadian Women’s Open title in 2012 as a 15-year old amateur at The Vancouver Golf Club and then defended her title a year later-again as an amateur-at the Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton.
Henderson tied for seventh in Rio. Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., is at three under.
Toronto’s Rebecca Lee-Bentham is sitting at 1 under through 14 holes and is now the top Canadian, one shot ahead of Calgary’s Jennifer Ha who is even through eight holes. The other veterans on the team are 35-year-old Hamilton native Alena Sharp – who competed in the Rio Olympics alongside Henderson – and 32-year-old Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C.
“I had lunch like three times and I had froyos”. “It’s a little frustrating because the greens are tough here but overall it was a solid round”.
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Ko won the 2012 Canadian Open aged just 15 to become the youngest ever victor of an LPGA Tour event.
