Stanford shares lead at Women’s British Open
July 30, 2009
LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP)—Angela Stanford birdied the last hole with a30-foot putt for a 2-under 70 Thursday and shared the first-round lead in theWomen’s British Open with Song-Hee Kim.
Kim, one of 29 Koreans playing in the championship, holed out from 20 feetfor birdie at the last.
Stanford and Kim were a shot ahead of Yuko Mitsuka of Japan and Hee YoungPark of South Korea on a day when stiff winds on the back nine at Royal Lythamand St. Annes made scoring difficult.
Michelle Wie coped well to shoot a 1-over 73, while Paula Creamer carded a74 without a birdie on her card.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa shot a 75, LPGA Tour money leader Cristie Kerr had a76, and defending champion Jiyai Shin scored 77.
Stanford coped well with the conditions with an eagle and two birdies tooffset two late bogeys, playing the back nine in even par.
She credited her early success with an unusual approach to preparing for thetournament when she opted to go to Rome for two days. She returned on Wednesdayin time for a single practice round.
“I always wanted to go to Rome, so I just decided to go. It was even betterthan I hoped for,” she said. “I was better off just playing one round becauseI played here in 2003 and 2006 and I know the course.”
She eagled the seventh with a 242-yard 3-wood to the front of the green anda 66-foot putt.
Her first birdie came on a 10-footer at the 12th. She three-putted No. 15and chipped poorly at No. 17 for bogeys, but rolled in a 30-footer at the last.
Kim said she scored well because she has been working on hitting the balllow.
“With my swing I tend to hit it high, but my teacher has been helping mehit it lower,” she said.
Wie is hoping a victory this week could help secure a place on the U.S.Solheim Cup team to face Europe next month.
“There is still a lot of golf left ahead of us. But I felt pretty proud ofhow I played today,” Wie said.
Creamer had 16 pars and two bogeys, and said she had a frustrating day onthe greens.
“Not one birdie, but I had many looks. I had a lot of chances,” she said.“I had good chances on the par 5s. One of my bogeys was a 4-1/2-footer. It’sdifficult, especially with how windy it was, to make putts.”
Mitsuka played her first pro event outside of Japan last week in the EvianMasters and tied for eighth. This is her first week in Britain and her firstevent on a links course.
After birdies at the third and fifth holes, she also eagled the seventhafter using a 3-wood to get within 10 feet.
“I enjoyed this round. My iron shots felt good today,” last year’sJapanese Tour rookie of the year said.
Ochoa had a mixed day with four birdies against a double-bogey and fivebogeys.
South Korea's Song Hee Kim… AP – Jul 30, 1:35 pm EDT
“I didn’t putt well. I three-putted twice,” she said. “But I’m OK withthis. I think that today with a lot of wind, I’m not out of this yet, but I needto putt better tomorrow to stay in the championship.”
One of the three-putts led to a double-bogey at the short 12th, where shemissed the green with her tee shot.
Kerr, who came close to winning the U.S. Open last month, was 1 under fornine, then hit the windier, tougher back nine and promptly double-bogeyed the10th.
“I hit some bad shots in the wind and they ended up in some not-so-goodspots and I kind of lost my feel for a couple holes there. That’s what happensin the wind sometimes,” she said.
“Of course I’m disappointed. I didn’t play those holes well. I played wellcoming in, 15 to 18, four pars. Conditions are probably going to be tough allweek and I just have to be better.”
Defending champion Shin appeared to be mastering the back nine when sheparred its first seven holes. Then she double-bogeyed the last two.
“The wind is the biggest problem. One minute it is strong and the next itgoes down,” Shin said. “The fairways are also drying, so the ball is runninginto the rough more than it was in practice.”
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