Canadians have strong start at LPGA Classic
CAMBRIDGE, ONT. Preferred lies and ideal conditions left Whistle Bear Golf Club in a prone position for Thursday’s opening round at the Manulife LPGA Classic, and Canadians Alena Sharp and Brittany Marchand took full advantage.
Sharp eagled the par-five 12th hole en route to a 6-under 66 while Marchand opened with a 67. Both were within striking distance of Norway’s Suzann Pettersen and South Korea’s Mi Hyang Lee, who shared the lead at 8 under 64.
South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim, Belgium’s Gonzalez Escall and China’s Shanshan Feng were one shot off the lead at 65.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., had an uneven performance in the warm, sunny conditions. She was visibly frustrated after missing a few short birdie putts and finished with a 71.
Sharp started on the back nine. The Hamilton native bogeyed her opening hole before recovering on the 12th, using a six-iron to leave herself a 15-footer for eagle. Sharp connected and followed it up with three birdies in her next four holes.
“I was on a nice run,” she said. “It was just easy — felt really simple.”
Marchand, a Symetra Tour player entered as a sponsor’s invite, also had an early morning tee time. The Orangeville, Ont., native fired seven birdies over her round to go with a pair of bogeys.
“I’ve shot 5 under before, but never in an LPGA event, so it’s pretty cool,” Marchand said.
There are 10 other Canadians at the US$1.7-million event. They include Augusta James (70) of Orangeville, Calgary’s Jennifer Ha (72), Grace St. Germain (72) of Penticton, B.C., Maude-Aimee LeBlanc (74) of Sherbrooke, Que., Jaclyn Lee of Calgary (75), Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane (76), Jennifer Kirby (76) of Brantford, Ont., Vivian Tsui (76) of Markham, Ont., Maddie Szeryk (78) of London, Ont., and Samantha Richdale (79) of Kelowna, B.C.