Hot start for Canada’s Henderson in Thailand
CHONBURI, Thailand — Canada’s Brooke Henderson is three shots behind leader Eun-Hee Ji of South Korea after shooting a 6-under 66 in the opening round of Honda LPGA Thailand on Thursday.
The bogey-free day marked Henderson’s first competitive round since the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Florida ended on
Jan. 20. The 21-year-old native of Smiths Falls, Ont., sat out the last two events because of illness.
“I felt like I did a lot of things really well today,” Henderson said. “Maybe adjust the game plan a little bit, but I’m just going to rest and hopefully come out tomorrow and get a couple birdies early.” Henderson is in a four-way tie for fifth. Ji has a two-shot lead on Minjee Lee of Australia, Danielle Kang of the United States and Jenny Shin of South Korea.
Henderson tied for seventh at this tournament last year.
Ji won her fifth U.S. LPGA Tour title in her previous event last month, the Tournament of Champions.
She picked up right where she left off, in Chonburi. After an opening birdie and a bogey on the third hole, Ji birdied nine of the following 14 holes on the Siam Country Club Pattaya’s Old Course.
McIlroy opens with 63, Woods struggles in Mexico debut
MEXICO CITY — Rory McIlroy flirted with a hole-in-one on the same par 4 where Tiger Woods hit out-of-bounds with his first shot in Mexico.
That’s about how their days went Thursday in the Mexico Championship.
McIlroy hit a 2-iron on the 305-yard opening hole at Chapultepec Golf Club that landed on the front of the green and was rolling just left of the pin when it settled six feet away, leading to an eagle that carried him to an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson.
Woods got a raucous Mexican introduction for his opening tee shot , a 5-wood that also landed on the green — the wrong green. The ball bounced hard off a temporary green to the left and beyond the out-of-bounds stake into the bushes. Then he nearly did it again, and ultimately had to get up-and-down from 60 feet away in a bunker to escape with double bogey. After a burst of birdies, Woods struggled to make much the rest of the way and opened with a 71.
Justin Thomas, who lost in a playoff last year to Phil Mickelson, was at 66.
Mickelson opened with a 79.