Spain’s Beatriz Recari, the US’ Ryann O’Toole and Italy’s Giulia Sergas shared the lead after Thursday’s first round of the LPGA Championship, with top-ranked Yani Tseng seven strokes adrift.
Recari, Sergas and O’Toole each fired three-under-par 69s to sit atop the leaderboard after day one of the US$2.5 million major championship, which also served as the pro debut for Tiger Woods’ niece, Cheyenne Woods, who shot 75.
Recari began on the back nine, took a bogey at the 11th and then birdied three holes in a row, starting at the par-4 14th on her way to the top of the leaderboard.
Photo: AFP
“It definitely feels great,” Recari said.
“I had a great feeling on the greens. I was just seeing the line, putting a good stroke and most of them dropped in,” she added.
One shot behind the co-leaders were Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Mika Miyazato, the US’ Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer, and South Koreans Pak Se-ri, Choi Na-yeon and Jeong Jang.
However, defending champion Tseng of Taiwan, a five-time major champion at age 23 and winner in three of the first five LPGA tournaments of the season, matched her worst round of the year, a 76, to put herself in danger of missing the cut.
“I just couldn’t hit a shot, couldn’t hit on the green, couldn’t hit on the fairway,” Tseng said.
“It was really tough for me out there. I was very disappointed. I love the golf course and I know I can have a low score here,” she added.
Tseng opened and closed her round with bogeys, managed birdies only on the par-4 third and 16th holes,and took bogeys at the par-3 fifth and seventh holes, nd the par-4 12th and 13th as well.
“I know it’s my mental problem,” Tseng said. “I’m hitting so well on the driving range, and when I get on the first tee there’s something wrong. I need to get my mental set-up like before, at the beginning of this year.”
Woods, playing on a sponsor’s exemption, qualified for the US Women’s Open last week and was excited about launching her pro career although she, too, was struggling to reach the weekend at Locust Hill Country Club.
“I’ve been waiting, waiting for this moment,” Woods said.
“I was a little nervous starting off, but it felt good to be out there and finally playing. I’m pretty happy with how I played. I had a few blips,” she added.
Pak, who was sidelined for two months with a torn left shoulder labrum, began the back nine with three birdies in a row to start a run into contention.
“I feel great to be back,” Pak said. “I never expected it would be a solid round. I’m trying to get the feel for it. Low expectations help a lot.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS