Michelle Wie yesterday rolled in several clutch putts and had six birdies in a 10-hole stretch to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.
The 27-year-old Wie, who has struggled with injuries and form since winning the US Open in 2014, shot a six-under 66 at the new Tanjong course.
Five others were tied for second after 67s — Brooke Henderson, Inbee Park, Mo Martin, Anna Nordqvist and Ariya Jutanugarn.
Photo: EPA
Among other scores in the 63-player field, Stacy Lewis and Paula Creamer had 68s and top-ranked Lydia Ko shot 69.
Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung was in a share of 49th after a two-over-par 74.
Wie, who had eight birdies and a pair of bogeys, has just one top-10 finish since 2014 and only got into the US$1.5 million LPGA tournament on a sponsor’s invitation after her ranking slumped to No. 179.
However, she was in vintage touch, despite playing in tricky winds and light rain.
After making a bogey-five at the third, Wie’s putter suddenly got hot as she made three birdies in a row to go out in 34.
She made another three birdies at the start of the back nine, draining a 12-foot putt on the 11th and then sinking another long putt from below the hole on the 501-yard, par-five 13th to take the early lead at a tournament featuring nine of the world’s top 10 players.
Wie slipped a shot behind Nordqvist when she bogeyed the 15th after an errant tee shot and the Swede picked up her sixth birdie, but Wie regained the lead with back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17.
“It feels good to play without much pain, to go out there and just play some golf and focus on my game rather than trying to finish out rounds,” Wie said. “It’s always exciting to be on the top of the leaderboard.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
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