Brooke Henderson, the pride of Smiths Falls, Ont., began her Olympic career Wednesday morning with an uncharacteristic roller coaster ride at the new Olympic golf course in Rio de Janeiro.
Advertisement
Four golfers shot 4-under par yesterday night (Aug 17 Thailand time) and were tied for third place: Nicole Broch Larsen of Denmark; Candie Kung of Taiwan; Carlota Ciganda of Spain, and South Korea’s Kim Sei-Young.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Inbee Park could tell right away Wednesday that this was not an ordinary golf tournament.
Ko turned things around when she holed out on the 15 hole for a two from 135 yards exclaiming, “First eagle at the Olympics!” and pumping her fists in the air.
The seven-time major victor is one shot behind leader Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand after the first round of play with a flawless five-under-par 66.
But there is plenty of golf to be played and big expectations back in South Korea, which also is represented by Chun In-Gee and Amy Yang.
Park, former world No. 1 who has dropped to No. 5 while struggling with injuries, said she couldn’t remember the last time she had such a fine round.
Park became the first woman to sink a hole-in-one on the par-71 Olympic course, coming in a practice round this week.
“I had one double but I felt OK”, Jutanugarn said.
“There would have to be something seriously wrong for me to not come and play in the Olympics”.
A short birdie putt on the 16th gave her a one-stroke lead after an opening round noted for the heat and laborious pace of play.
For the second straight week, a Brazilian native opened the golf competition.
Her approach shots were a little off Wednesday as she hit only 12 of 18 greens in regulation.
Women’s golf was last part of the Olympics in 1900 in Paris, and then it was only a nine-hole competition among 10 women.
These games are all about the South Koreans, who have dominated women’s golf for the last generation.
Unlike the women’s tournament, more than 20 men’s stars including the four highest-ranked players stayed home.
“Being a Korean women’s golfer, I think we always have that kind of pressure on our shoulders”, Park said. Being able to do it in the Olympics would be something unreal, but obviously it’s going to be something that’s very, very hard to do with all the great competitors around the world. “It feels great. It’s just really all I’ve wanted”. “But you know, we really can’t help it”. Nicole Broch Larsen of Denmark was in a group of three players at 67 and American Lexi Thompson was in a four-way tie at 68. “I think it’s doable if you hit the right ridges”.
Not many thought it would be Park because of her injury and poor form this year. After her second round on Thursday, Park said she would visit a hospital after the Olympics to see if she’d be healthy enough to keep playing the rest of the season.
Advertisement
But Park and Kim did not show it, both posting bogey-free rounds on a slightly breezy day. Earlier in the week, Nomura almost whiffed on a 6-inch putt for par that she missed, ultimately marking the difference between potentially landing on the medal stand and missing out.
