Heartbreak for former Sun Devil at the US Women’s Open

“I’ll take any shot advantage I can”, Ko added.

She had to make a birdie on the second playoff hole to stay alive and then eliminated Shculdt with a par on the third playoff hole to clinch the second qualifying spot.

LPGA veteran Kerr relished playing the opening round in the company of the pacesetting Lee. She recorded four bogies to match four birdies for the round.

Both Sharp and Leblanc said they were happy with their ball striking, but squinted into the blazing sun afterwards and both lamented leaving shots on the course. Ji, Park and Yang are legitimate threats to win, particularly Ji, who won the 2009 U.S. Open and seemingly has the right temperament to win in the crucible of a major championship.

Kerr, playing in the same group with Lee, almost matched her stroke for stroke with players standing 3-under through their first 11 holes. “And for her to win the playoff with a birdie, I think that just kind of summed up her day”. “He does concerts in December and I think I went to his concert on the 23rd, midnight, yeah, December”.

Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, follows her shot from the sixth tee during the third round of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at CordeValle Saturday, July 9, 2016, in San Martin, Calif.

Things were not quite so simple for world number one Ko, second-ranked Henderson and No. 4 Thompson, who played together in the afternoon when the wind picked up and the greens got firmer.

The top trio and the South African pair will need to do plenty of work to catch leader Mirim Lee. They also had to contemplate 13 combined bogeys.

“It’s always good to end up with a birdie”, Ko concluded.

“I think the more I play, I think the more I get used to it, especially at these majors where the courses are tough”, Ko said.

She held a share of the lead before a bogey at 17, but said she couldn’t be disappointed with her one-over effort. With a +1 projected cut line – which is certain to change – the Championship is just about where I’d expect it to be after 18 holes.

While it’s not unusual in any golf tournament for early-in-the-day scores to be better than those in the later hours, the first day of this Open was pretty stark.

She did not mention that she only recently had a cortisone shot in her left wrist, which was revealed to Golfweek by her longtime coach, David Leadbetter. She did not have much of a childhood, competing for the first time on the LPGA Tour at 12 years old. It will be interesting to see how she responds Friday with a 2:09 tee time, but she’s given herself a nice three-stroke cushion.

You have to wonder if a part of Wie did not want to be back on that campus and in the cocoon again, working on her master’s in something, away from the spotlight and expectations and where she has not been able to make the grades she wanted.

After five minutes of searching for her ball, with the help of Park and six other support staff and officials, Ko gave up and was forced to play her fourth shot well back down the fairway. “Putting, a couple of missed putts, but not bad”. A bogey on 16, her second in a five-hole stretch, put her at 3-over for the tournament.

Lee was positive after her round, which included an eagle two on the par four sixth, but she lamented her missed opportunities on the greens.