Mirim Lee shot a 10-under 62 on Thursday to match the Women’s British Open record and open a three-stroke lead in the major championship at tree-lined Woburn Golf Club.
Three weeks after shooting a 64 in the first round of the US Women’s Open, the 25-year-old South Korean player made the last of her 10 birdies on the par-three 17th and closed with a par.
Lee fell a stroke short of the LPGA Tour major record of 61 set by Kim Hyo-joo in the first round of the 2014 Evian Championship. Minea Blomqvist shot a 62 in the third round of the 2004 Women’s British Open at Sunningdale, and Lorena Ochoa had a 62 in first round of the 2006 Kraft Nabisco. Lee also matched her official LPGA Tour career low set in the second round of the LPGA Taiwan in 2014.
Photo: AFP
“I’ve shot 11-under before,” Lee said. “It was back in, I think, second round of LPGA Q-School, final stage. Just so happens my caddie at the time [John Kileen] was my caddie today.”
“I think the difference is that now I’m trying to have fun,” Lee said. “I’m trying to enjoy it, whereas in the beginning of the year, things weren’t really going well for me, so I really put a lot of work into it and I think it’s just natural that it’s showing, the hard work is showing now.”
Ariya Jutanugarn was second after a bogey-free 65.
“I love this course,” said Jutanugarn, a long-hitting Thai player who won three straight events in May.
China’s Feng Shanshan had a 66, while American Stacy Lewis and South Korea’s Lee Mi-hyang shot 67s.
Lee birdied the first two holes, added another on the fourth and made five straight on Nos. 7 through 11 to reach eight-under. She also birdied the par-three 13th on the Marquess Course, the forest layout that is a big change from the seaside links that dominate the tournament rotation.
Among Taiwanese at the tournament, Teresa Lu and Yani Tseng were the best placed in a share of 14th after shooting three-under 69s. Lu went bogey-free with three birdies, while Tseng mixed two bogeys among five birdies.
Further behind were Kaohsiung native Candie Kung in a share of 51st after a 72 and in 87th — below the projected cut — Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling shot a 74.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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