South Korea’s Ryu So-yeon fired a bogey-free opening round of 9-under-par 63 on Thursday to seize a one-stroke lead over compatriot Choi Na-yeon at the LPGA Canadian Women’s Open.
Ryu, the 2011 US Women’s Open champion, hit all 14 fairways and needed only 25 putts, reaching 16 of 18 greens in regulation and chipping in with a sand save to stand atop the leaderboard.
“I really feel great about that, especially because before I was going to tee off my warming up shots were really bad,” Ryu said. “So I had zero expectation I could play this low, but I played really well so I’m really happy.”
Ninth-ranked Ryu, whose only other LPGA title came at the 2012 Toledo Classic, had 10 top-10 finishes without a victory last year and has nine more this year without a win.
After birdies at the par-three second and par-five fourth and seventh holes, Ryu sizzled on the back nine, starting with three birdies in a row from the par-five 10th.
Ryu added another birdie at the 14th and closed with back-to-back birdies to edge Choi for the top spot and matched a London Hunt and Country Club record.
Choi launched her first round with five birdies in a row before a bogey at the sixth after finding a greenside bunker broke the streak. She responded with birdies at the seventh and 10th holes, then birdied the par-three 13th and par-five 16th as well.
Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist was third on 65 with China’s Lin Xiyu, Spain’s Azahara Munoz, American Danielle Kang and world No. 2 Inbee Park of South Korea sharing fourth another stroke adrift.
Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng shot a three-under 69, while fellow Taiwanese Candie Kung carded a one-under 71.
Two-time defending champion Lydia Ko opened on 70, a solid start, but still seven strokes off the pace in a share of 34th place.
The Korean-born New Zealander had been advised by a specialist to have surgery on her left wrist and the 17-year-old world No. 3 could go under the knife as soon as next month.
Ko has battled pain in her wrist through recent tournaments, and coach David Leadbetter has been reported as saying a cyst on Ko’s wrist has grown.
Leadbetter said Ko might need a long period of time to recover from the operation, which probably would not come before next month’s final LPGA major tournament of the season, the Evian Championship in France.
Ko birdied the fourth, seventh and 16th holes, but made a bogey at the sixth.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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