Mirim Lee of South Korea holds the lead after the first round in a major championship for the second time this year.
Lee, who led after a 64 in the U.S. Women’s Open before tying for 11th, tied the tournament record and set the course low with a 10-under 62 par to grab a three-stroke lead over Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand in the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Woburn Golf and Country Club in Milton Keynes, England.
“When you normally think of British Open, you think of high roughs, difficult roughs,” said Lee, who obviously likes the change of pace from a links course to an English parkland course. “But here it feels more like California, so I think that really made me feel comfortable.
“It was probably one of my best ever rounds, although I still had some errant shots. I played every hole in a similar fashion, hitting fairways and greens. My best ever score was an 11-under-par in LPGA qualifying.”
Lee, who equaled the 62 shot by Minea Blomqvist of Finland in the third round of the 2004 British Open at Sunningdale, birdied eight of the first 11 holes on the Marques Course at Woburn and added two more birdies at Nos. 14 and 17.
Jutanugarn, who has won three times this season on the LPGA Tour, carded six birdies in the first 11 holes, while Shanshan Feng of China birdied four straight holes through No. 8 and was another shot back at 66.
Stacy Lewis, who won this tournament in 2013, recorded a bogey-free 67 and was tied for fourth with Mi Hyang Yang of South Korea, whose only blemish in her 67 was a bogey on the 16th hole.
Mo Martin of Pasadena and UCLA, who won the 2014 Women’s British Open, had a bogey-free 68 and was tied for sixth with Alena Sharp of Canada, Sarah Jane Smith of Australia, Ha Na Jang of South Korea and Azahara Munoz of Spain.
Home course favorite Charley Hull of England shot 69 and was in a large tie for 11th with Brittany Lincicome, Karrie Webb of Australia, Yani Tseng of Taiwan, So Yeon Ryu of South Korea, Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand, Mika Miyazato of Japan, Teresa Lu of Taiwan, I.K. Kim of South Korea and amateur Maria Parra of Spain.
Amateur Bronte Law of England, a senior at UCLA who won the European Women’s Amateur last week, shot 70 and was in a tie for 23rd that included Beth Allen of San Diego and Cal State Northridge.
Top-ranked Lydia Ko bogeyed the last two holes to shoot 74 and was tied for 89th.
