Hyo Joo Kim of South Korea opened with a flawless 7-under-par 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Cristie Kerr after one round of the 39th Ricoh Women’s British Open on the Ailsa Course at Trump Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire, Scotland.
Donald Trump, who owns Turnberry, flew in on a helicopter early in the day and tried to steal the show, but the golf was simply too good.
The 20-year-old Kim sprinkled five birdies across her scorecard and added an eagle on the 14th hole.
“The last couple of weeks, I couldn’t hit it very well,” said Kim, who opened with a 61 en route to winning her first major title last year, the Evian Championship. “But today I kept it in the fairway very well, and the second shots hit the greens very well.”
Ko, 18, birdied five of six holes through No. 7, interrupted only by a bogey on the sixth hole while playing the front nine in 32.
Then she added a 57-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole and played the back nine in a bogey-free 34 to complete her 66.
“Hit it pretty solid; if I did miss it, I missed it in the right spots where it wasn’t that difficult to get up-and-down,” said Ko, who has won seven times on the LPGA Tour but still is looking for her first major title.
” … It can get windy out there and you have to stay patient. The par-5s are reachable and you can make birdie or eagle, but the par-4s and par-3s are long. I made some mid-range and long-range putts and was lucky to make that putt at No. 10.”
Kerr, who has won two major titles but not this one, had an eagle on the third hole and seven birdies in her 66.
So Yeon Ryu of South Korea, the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open champion, overcame a double bogey 6 on the 12th hole to shoot 67 and was tied for fourth with Q Baek, also of South Korea, who had seven birdies.
Suzann Pettersen of Norway posted a 68 and was tied for sixth with Mika Miyazato of Japan, Florentyna Parker of England, Teresa Lu of Taiwan, Azahara Munoz of Spain, Shiho Oyama of Japan, Jin Young Ko of South Korea and Katie Burnett.
Top-ranked Inbee Park of South Korea was tied for 14th after a 69, while defending champion Mo Martin of Pasadena and UCLA shot 70 and was in a tie for 23rd that included third-ranked Stacy Lewis.
