She made an ace, won a auto and leads the field at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
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Park trailed first-round leader Brooke Henderson by five shots. “It’s definitely the utmost gift that I’ve had as a professional golfer”.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Jay Don Blake birdied three of the last five holes at windy Philadelphia Cricket Club for a 2-under 70 and the first-round lead in the Constellation Senior Players Championship.
Many of Henderson’s nine top-10 finishes this year came on the strength of strong weekends.
Inbee Park of South Korea, the world’s No. 2 player, has won the last three Women’s PGA Championships.
Park bogeyed the 12th and 14th holes to fall back to even par.
“Yeah it was a pretty good day today”, said Henderson, who finished fifth at the PGA Championship past year. Boasting two wins and six top-10 finishes this season, Ko easily has one of the best chances to win this week.
Lydia Ko, the world’s top-ranked player, hit the bottom of the flagstick with her tee shot on the par-3 17th on Thursday, with the ball ricocheting off the flag about 20 feet below the hole. A tournament spokesman said that a slew of her peers will congratulate her on the 18th green on Thursday, adding that fans will be given cardboard Park hats on a stick. She won the Evian Championship in France at the end of a year ago, and the ANA Inspiration in April. “He knows my game and he told me not to use driver”, she said. Henderson hit a seven iron from 152 yards to record her fourth career hole in one and won a Kia K900 in the process, which she plans to give to her sister and caddie, Brittany.
“Obviously, I’m just really restricted on my swing”.
“This place has absolutely drained me”. In-Kyung Kim, formerly I.K. Kim, also carded an opening round two-under par, 69 to sit two back of Henderson.
Thai golfer Ariya Jutanugarn, chasing her fourth LPGA Tour title in succession, recovered from a slow start to be just three from the lead and in a share of 4th position.
She’s also taking a conservative approach with the narrow fairways and claustrophobic sight lines provided by Sahalee’s thousands of trees.
Brittany Henderson hasn’t had a auto since sister Brooke bruised her old Honda about a year ago and it went to the great junkyard in the sky.
Park has spent the past few years digging her golf spikes into the rest of the LPGA field sans an ounce of bright-light publicity.
Lexi Thompson, ranked No. 3 in the world, struggled with a 75.
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Michelle Wie shot a 78, making a double bogey and five bogeys. Should she prevail come Sunday night, speculation will no doubt begin about whether Ko, with a victory at the U.S. Women’s Open, can match Wright’s four straight major wins, a feat accomplished over the 1961 and 1962 seasons.
