Minjee Lee performs her strategy to the primary inexperienced within the first spherical of the HSBC Ladies’s World Championship in Singapore at the moment.
MINJEE Lee, regardless of nearly shedding her ball in shoulder excessive grass on the sixth gap, was the very best of a disappointing Australian contingent after the primary spherical of the HSBC Ladies’s World Championship in Singapore at the moment.
Lee, already the winner of two main occasions on the LPGA Tour, recovered to shoot two-under-par 70 to be tied third on the spectacular Sentosa golf course on the shores of Singapore harbour.
She is 2 strokes behind Korean A Lim Kim, the winner of the season-opening Event of Champions in Orlando, Florida, who performed excellent golf on a difficult day to shoot 68, one stroke away from England’s Charley Hull.
Defending champion Hannah Inexperienced bogeyed the 18th gap for a disappointing three-over-par 75, and the Western Australian faces a troublesome job to repeat final yr’s triumph.
The opposite three Aussies – Grace Kim (78), Gabi Ruffels (80) and Steph Kyriacou (82) – are nicely again within the subject of 66 golfers, and seemingly out of competition.
Minjee Lee, wielding her new lengthy putter, sank a 10m putt from the again of the inexperienced for a birdie three on the par-four opening gap, however bogeyed the par 4 third.
On the sixth, she drove into the tough on the left, and finally discovered her ball nicely off the green. Even after taking a penalty and shifting her ball a full two membership lengths, she was barely in a position to drop it outdoors the shoulder excessive grass, and did nicely to flee with only a bogey.
Birdies on the eighth and tenth took her to two-under, and he or she was in a position to maintain that margin till the tip. Solely two strokes from the lead Lee, the winner of 10 LPGA occasions, is nicely positioned to problem for her first title since 2023.
Inexperienced, who has developed an unlucky tendency to start slowly, by no means appeared snug on Sentosa’s tough greens.
Even with the cardboard after 11 holes, she double-bogeyed the par 4 twelfth, then had a bogey 5 on the 14th. A birdie on 17, the product of a five-metre putt for 2, gave promise of a robust end, however she putted poorly on 18 for a bogey 5.
Tied thirty seventh, she appears too far again, although she did win final yr’s title after a equally poor first spherical.
Highly effective Korean A Lim Kim, who has begun this yr’s LPGA Tour in nice type, had no such troubles.
She collected birdies on six, eight, 12, 13 and 15 to achieve five-under, however surprisingly gave again a shot on the par 5 sixteenth gap. Other than that one blemish she was accountable for her sport all through the spherical, reaching 15 of the 18 greens in regulation.
Charley Hull on the primary gap.
Charley Hull, the colorful English girl who claims she by no means practices golf, breezed round in a bogey-free three-under 69, lies second and looms as an actual menace on this match of star golfers.
Sharing third place with Lee on 70 are China’s Ruoning Yin, Korea’s Hye-jin Choi and Mexican Gaby Lopex.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, the world’s No 3 golfer, is tied seventh on one-under 71, together with match favorite Jeeno Thitikul, of Thailand, who recorded her thirty second consecutive below par spherical, relationship again to the 2024 FM Championship.
If she scores 4 rounds below par this week, she’s going to move Korean Jin Younger Ko’s file of 34 consecutive rounds below par.
Inside Golf is a proud media accomplice of the occasion, which has attracted 9 of the world’s prime 10 gamers. The 72-hole match concludes on Sunday.
