Karrie Webb of Australia carded a 6-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Paula Creamer and Caroline Hedwall of Sweden after one round of the HSBC Women’s Champions on the Serapong Course at Sentosa Country Club in Singapore.
Seven-time major champion Webb, who recently captured the ISPS Handa Australian Women’s Open for the fifth time to claim the 56th victory of her career, got off to a fast start with birdies on four of the first six holes.
“Yeah, (the start) definitely set the tone and I think for me, anyway, on this course, I find it quite tricky to trust where you’ve got to hit it off the tee, and it leaves some challenging iron shots in from some long distances out on the par 4s,” said Webb, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005.
“For me, getting off to a good start really allowed me to settle in and trust my game plan for the rest of the day. … I’ve always enjoyed coming to Singapore. I think it’s a great city and I’m a bit of a foodie, so I love going and trying all different foods this week. So I do enjoy it here.
“And it’s nice, too, because there’s a lot of Aussies in Singapore. So I always have quite a big following out there, which is fun.”
Webb, who was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard in the Australian Ladies Masters earlier this year, rushed back to the scorer’s tent on Thursday after fearing she had failed to sign for her 66, but her signature was on the card.
Hedwall had five birdies, including three in a row through No. 16, in her bogey-free round of 67, two of her birdies coming on putts of 25 and 36 feet.
Creamer, who is from Pleasanton, also posted a bogey-free 67 as she tries to break her winless drought that dates to the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open.
Angela Stanford shot 68 and was tied for fourth with Teresa Lu of Taiwan.
Top-ranked Inbee Park of South Korea was tied for seventh at 70, No. 2 Suzann Pettersen of Norway tied for 12th with a 71 and No. 3 Stacy Lewis made bogeys on three of the first six holes and tied for 43rd at 75.
