Stacy Lewis enjoyed seven consecutive birdies to tie the Evian Masters record with a nine-under 63 in the opening round on Thursday.
Her birdie flurry from holes fiver to 11, plus two more on 17 and 18, helped Lewis to a two-shot lead over early front-runner Park Hee-young of South Korea.
“I didn’t really have anything going the first few holes. I don’t know what changed or clicked,” Lewis said. “It was just one of those days where you get into this rhythm. I was more happy to finish with the two birdies than even the seven, just to get some momentum going into tomorrow.”
Photo: Reuters
Lewis, who has won two LPGA Tour titles this year, matched Helen Alfredsson’s round of 63, set by the Swede in 2008.
“I know I’ve made six [birdies] in a row before, but I don’t know if I’ve made seven ... I almost made eight,” Lewis said. “I definitely think this is one of the lowest rounds I’ve ever shot.”
If Lewis keeps her form going, last year’s Kraft Nabisco Championship winner has a chance to beat I.K. Kim’s 23 birdies last year. The overall course record is held by fellow American Julie Inkster, who won with 21-under in 2003.
Park, who used a belly putter for the first time in her career, was also in clinical form as she sank five straight birdies on the front nine.
South Korea’s Lee Il-hee was three shots behind Lewis in third place. Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe and Japan’s Mika Miyazato were both four behind after 67s.
Park started shakily with a bogey on the fourth hole before her run of birdies. She added three more on the back nine. After shooting six-under in Wednesday’s pro-am tournament, she sensed the belly putter would work for her.
“I have been playing 15 years and I have never used the belly putter before,” said Park, who won her only LPGA title at last year’s season-ending Titleholders.
Having failed to make the cut at the US Women’s Open, Park’s relief at finding her form was evident. She put it down to taking some much-needed time off.
“Before Evian I had a two-week break, where I did some other sports — swim, kayak, bike, tennis — everything refreshed my body,” she said. “[I was] kind of frustrated after the US [Women’s] Open, I needed to forget about it.”
Taiwanese five-time major winner Yani Tseng’s miserable round was compounded by a wild shot into the rough on the 18th.
Her shot landed deep in the rough, at an awkward angle and just above the water. Tseng drove the ball well, but it just failed to clear the bunker.
Although world No. 1 Tseng saved par, overall she had five bogeys against one birdie and drifted way out of contention at four-over.
Fellow Taiwanese Amy Hung did not fair much better, carding a three-over 74, while Candie Kung shot a disappointing five-over 77.
Additional reporting by Staff writer
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later