July 28, 2024; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Minjee Lee tees off on the third hole during the final round of the CPKC Women’s Golf Open. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports Australia’s Minjee Lee shot a bogey-free, 5-under 67 to top the first-round leaderboard at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open in Ayrshire, Scotland on Thursday.
Wet weather caused multiple delays at Dundonald Links, with 42 golfers still on the course when play was suspended due to darkness at around 9.10pm local time.
At this time, Lee had surpassed Megan Khang and South Korean player A Lim Kim and was tied for second with a score of 4-under 68. Lily May Humphreys finished 12 holes at 4 under.
Two-time major champion Lee missed the tournament at 2 under, then birdied Nos. 10, 13, 14 and 18, the last two of which were par 5s. She is looking for her first win in 2024.
“I love the creativity of links golf,” Lee said. “You know, obviously it was very windy today, so the game was like a real links golf course. Sometimes we don’t have that much wind, but today it was very windy, and I think just imagining what it would be like to hit the ball, and I think Having to execute these shots – I don’t think it’s fun to play and you’re only rewarded when you execute these shots correctly.
Earlier in the day, Kang stood near a puddle off the green and made an unlikely chip-in for birdie on the par-5 fifth, her 14th hole of the day, to take the lead. . She made her sixth and final birdie of the day on the seventh hole to set her lead at 4 under.
“After that bad second shot, I walked up to my ball and my heel was kind of in the water and I joked, ‘I really don’t care where my foot is.’ I hit a lovely one. Chip, very lucky to drop it,” said Kang, who has only one win so far on the LPGA Tour.
Kang said she found out Thursday morning while trailing that the start of the race had been delayed by an hour.
“Thankfully, I didn’t have to get wet and come back,” Kang said. “Obviously, we had to do it with a mid-round delay, but that’s going to happen. But I’m glad we were able to get through this round and let me get the job done for the day.”
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, fresh off her gold medal win in Paris, her third Olympic medal since 2016, opened with a 3-under 69 , including 5 birdies.
Like many golfers, she sees this week as a useful tune-up for next week’s Women’s British Open at St. Andrews.
“That’s part of our job. We have to adapt to the weather, the type of golf course, the type of grass,” Gao said.
“So we – I think it depends on who adjusts best in a short period of time… We’ve got two weeks here to play links-style golf, so all in all, that’s good for next week. Well well prepared, even though this is of course a different style to St Andrews.
Lauren Coughlin, Japan’s Ayaka Furue and South Africa’s Nicole Garcia also shot 69, and Lucy Lee was 3 under through 15 holes.
Among other notable players, Rose Zhang and Ireland’s Leona Maguire opened with a 73, one over par.
–Scene-level media
