Mirim Lee ties record with 8-under at US Women’s Open

Mirim Lee takes a three-shot lead into today’s second round of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open Championship in San Martin, Calif. after shooting an 8-under 64 in Thursday’s first round.

The Western Australian, ranked 13th in the world, is three from the outright lead held by South Korea’s Mirim Lee, who started with a 64. Lee came within one shot of tying Helen Alfredsson’s record for the lowest 18-hole score in the tournament of 63, set in the first round in 1994 at Indianwood in Lake Orion, Mich. So you have to expect it to change, and if it doesn’t, then you’ll have opportunities to score. “I don’t think the USGA likes when we shoot 8-under on their golf course”. Hitting on to the fairways, which is most important thing from the tee box.

Lee is playing in just her second US Women’s Open having finished 47th on debut previous year but she took a liking to the Corde Valle layout to produce a stunning opening round.

Lee capped her record day with birdie from about 8 feet on her final hole at the par-5 ninth. And if I missed my drives, it was sort of just on the first cut or maybe just in the rough.

South Korea’s Lee Mi-rim birdied five of her last seven holes to surge into an early three-stroke lead.

“‘It feels good”, said Lee.

“Everything was good, like driver is good and then irons were good”, she said after covering her back nine in a five-under 31. “Putting, a couple of missed putts, but not bad”.

She was the last person off the range on Wednesday night as she continued to look for some swing thought or key to get her back driving the ball the way she did at Sahalee Country Club last month when she won her first major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in a playoff over Ko.

There were just 20 players in the 156-player field to break par in the tough conditions and Mickelson, a five-time major victor, was chief among those who found the going tricky.

With the gallery lining the 10th tee three deep in places, Henderson teed off with world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand and No. 4 Lexi Thompson of the USA, in the marquee group under a blazing sun, which firmed up the CordeValle layout. Henderson finished 4 over and Thompson 2 over.

“Mirim, I don’t know what course she played”, she said.

“I don’t know what course she played, maybe the ladies tees, maybe a different course”, Ko said. Of the 10 players who shot in the 60s, only Yang broke into the top seven from the afternoon wave, and she did that with a late rush. It’s very impressive. She must have hit a lot of fairways and made good putts. Defending champion In Gee Chun was level with Ko on 1-over par. She had one birdie and two bogeys….