Moriya hot on heels of leader Olson at US Women's Open

With three birdies in 10 holes, the one-time LPGA winner is placed at second alongside Hinako Shibuno of Japan and South Korean A Lim Kim after 18 holes.
US-based Patty Tavatanakit, another Thai hope in the field, fired five birdies against three bogeys to start the Major with a 69 with former world No 1 Ariya Jutanugarn coming a shot behind.
For the second time in 2020, North Dakota’s Olson has got off to a hot start in a major championship. The 28-year-old from Fargo shot a four-under 67 in Thursday’s first round.
Olson highlighted her day with an ace at No. 3, while three birdies and one bogey rounded out her career-low round at the US Women’s Open. Considering Cypress Creek played a full stroke harder (74.59 to 73.46) than the Jackrabbit Course, which is co-hosting the first two rounds due to daylight concerns, Olson’s first-round success is especially hard-earned.
“I hit the ball really well off the tee. I gave myself some good chances for birdies, but I really made some putts that I definitely wasn't necessarily thinking birdie on, and that helped,” said Olson, the USGA’s 2009 US girls’ junior champion. “Obviously, the hole-in-one was kind of the highlight of the round. I was pretty excited to be able to do that at the US Open.”
Olson has twice been close to major success. In August, Olson shot another 67 to open the AIG Women’s Open but struggled to a second-round 81 and dropped well off the pace. She also came up one hole short at the 2018 Evian Championship, making a heart-breaking double-bogey on the 72nd hole to hand the title to Angela Stanford.
Olson knows only too well that the championship is far from over, saying, “It's not easy to win out here. You have to put four really good days together.”
Shibuno, who captured the hearts of the golf world after winning the 2019 AIG Women’s Open, carded four birdies and one bogey in the first round of her US Women’s Open debut. She played the Cypress Creek Course on Thursday and looks forward to the challenge of playing a completely different course in the second round.
“This is my first time playing two different courses, so that's why I did a lot of practising rounds beforehand. That's why I came in early,” said Shibuno. “By doing so, by doing more practising, I learned more, so I would like to use what I learned in the practising rounds and in the tournament.”
Moriya and Kim both opened their major weeks on the Jackrabbit Course. Moriya returned a clean scorecard with three birdies, while Kim endured an up-and-down round of five birdies and two bogeys.
Seven players are tied for fifth at -2, including 2020 AIG Women’s Open champion Sophia Popov and Gerina Piller, who had the best first-round showing of the championship’s seven Texans. US Women’s Open champion in 2019, Jeongeun Lee, opened her title defence with a two-over 73 on the Cypress Creek Course.