South Korea’s Ji Eun-hee chipped in twice as she raced to the top of the LPGA Taiwan Championship leaderboard with an opening round of six-under-par 66 at the Miramar Golf and Country Club in New Taipei City yesterday.
Starting her round at the 10th, Ji made her move on the second nine with four consecutive birdies from the fifth and needed only 23 putts as she made light work of the blustery conditions at the US$2 million event.
China’s Lin Xiyu (67) was one shot back in second, with American Morgan Presell (68) in a four-way tie for third alongside Germany’s Sandra Gal, Charley Hull of England and Yoo Sun-young of South Korea.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“I was just patient with the winds and I was calm with my putting. I just looked at the line and hit it,” Ji told reporters, crediting some short game work for her good round. “I just working on my short game last week and the week before, because my chipping wasn’t feeling good. So I was working a lot this week and I just chipped in twice today and I think I worked on a lot of right things.”
Ji, who won the 2009 US Women’s Open, has struggled this season, with her best finish tied for eighth at the Evian Championships last month. The 66 was a joint best round of the year.
World No. 2 Lydia Ko also had few problems in the tricky conditions as she fired four birdies in a round of 69, which was good enough for a share of seventh.
Home favorite and former world No. 1 Yani Tseng could only manage an even-par 72 after encountering trouble on the front nine, but that was five better than American world No. 3 Stacey Lewis, who endured a miserable birdie-free 77 — her worst of the year.
Taiwan’s Chen Meng-chu carded an even-par 72, while her compatriots Chang Ya-chung, Hsieh Yu-ling and Tsai Pei-ying all shot one-over 73. Kaohsiung-born Taiwanese-American Candie Kung shot a three-over 75.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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