Ariya is one behind Wie in LPGA Singapore
World No 2 Ariya Jutanugarn came back from an unsteady front nine play to fire five birdies for a tied second spot behind Michelle Wie after the first round of the HSBC Women’s Champions at the par 72 6,683 yard Sentosa Golf Club, Tanjong Course on Thursday.
After swapping three birdies with three bogeys at the front, Ariya got into the groove by firing three straight birdies between holes 11-13 and added two more on the 16 th and 18th to finish with a 67 along with Anna Nordquist of Sweden, Brooke M. Handerson of Canada and Olympics gold medalist Inbee Park of South Korea.
Wie revelled in being injury-free for the first time in years as she carded a superb 66 to take the opening round lead.
“It was just a steady round. I had fun out there,” said Wie. “I had a lot of fun. I just had fun playing.”
Wie, who has not won on the LPGA Tour since 2014 when she captured both the LPGA Lotte Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open, made three birdies in a row on the front nine, and then pulled the trick again on the back nine. Her birdie barrage was offset by only two blemishes on the scorecard, on the par-4 3rd and the par-3 15th.
Wie repeated how much fun she had Thursday multiple times when asked after her round what the key to her success was. She admitted it was good to finally play a round pain-free, as she’s battled a myriad of injuries the last few seasons.
“It feels good to play without much pain. To go out there and just play some golf and focus on my game rather than trying to finish out rounds,” she explained. “I’m very proud of myself today.”
It has been a few years since Wie was let alone leading a golf tournament, and she stated it was exciting to be at the top of the leaderboard after Thursday’s opening round.
“Even though it’s just the first day, I want to keep building and hopefully the next three days I can take it day-by-day, hole-by-hole, shot-by-shot and play as hard as I can,” she said.
Henderson, who birdied her final two holes of the day, sits in a tie for second at 5-under-par. Henderson has had a fairly pedestrian start to her 2017 campaign – with two T21s and a T45 – versus her blistering start to 2016. But after making six birdies on Thursday she’s in a prime position for her first strong finish of the season.
Mi Jung Har, Ryann O’Toole (who played with Wie), Stacy Lewis, and Paula Creamer, who won this event in 2014 (her last LPGA Tour victory) sit at 4-under-par and are two shots back heading into Friday’s second round.
World No.1 Lydia Ko drained a 20-foot birdie putt on her final hole of the day to get to -3 and sits tied for 12th.
The New Tanjong Course at the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore yielded 35 under-par rounds on Thursday under intermittent rain, the first round played on the new course. The Serapong Golf Course, across the street from the New Tanjong, hosted the event in the past.
