Mirim Lee of South Korea tied a tournament record while shooting 8-under-par 64 to take a three-stroke lead over Cristie Kerr, Minjee Lee of Australia and Amy Yang, also of South Korea, after one round of the Women’s U.S. Open at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, near San Jose.
Lee became the fifth player to post a round of 8-under in the tournament.
“So today’s round was easy day, easy round, yeah,” said Lee, who has won twice on the LPGA Tour and six times as a pro. “The course is perfect now. Greens are really fast. I just try to make par, yeah, that’s it.
“I think everything was good, like driver is good and then iron is good. Putting, a couple of missed putt, but not bad. It’s good. Today is first round, so I feel just OK, just good play. Yeah, this is good.”
Lee birdied six of the first nine holes and added four more birdies on the back, including an eight-foot putt on the last hole.
Kerr, who has won two majors including the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open, birdied six birdies in a span of nine holes in her 67, while Minjee Lee eagled the sixth hole on her way top matching Kerr.
Yang, playing late in the day, birdied two of the last four holes to also shoot 67.
“I definitely expect it to change,” Kerr said. “I don’t think the USGA likes when we shoot 8-under on their golf course. You have to expect it to change, and if it doesn’t, then you’ll have opportunities to score.”
Anna Nordqvist of Sweden, Brittany Lang and Kelly Tan of Malaysia were tied for fifth at 68, while Sydnee Michaels of Temecula and UCLA birdied two of the last three and carded a 69 that left her in a tie for eighth with Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand and Eun-Hee Ji of South Korea.
The featured group struggled, as top-ranked Lydia Ko of New Zealand totaled 73, fourth-ranked Lexi Thompson had a 74 and second-ranked Brooke Henderson of Canada came in at 76.
