Choi, Yang set pace in Women’s PGA

Triplett shoots a 62 in U.S. Senior Open

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — Michelle Wie launched a 3-wood into swirling gusts and toward the 18th green, wondering if the shot had enough steam to get there. A shift in the wind took the guesswork out of the equation.

“It died down and I got a little surprise,” Wie said. “I got all the way there.”

The 215-yard shot rolled within 30 feet of the flag to set up a two-putt birdie and a 3-under 68 that left Wie two shots off the lead during the opening round Thursday in the Women’s PGA Championship. She wasn’t the only long hitter to benefit from windy conditions and a tough front nine at Olympia Fields Country Club.

Defending champion Brooke Henderson matched the 3-under start, which left her two back of Chella Choi and Amy Yang. Choi shot a 66 in the morning, and Yang was on the 18th hole at 5 under with a chance to grab the outright lead when play was suspended at 7:01 p.m. because of dangerous weather in the area.

Brittany Altomare shot a 67, and Joanna Klatten also was 4 under with two holes left.

Joining Henderson and Wie at 68 were Alison Lee and Su Oh. Kim Kaufman and Emily Pedersen also were 3 under late in their rounds.

“I was able to carry a couple of

fairway bunkers, which is huge, because not a lot of players are able to do that,” Henderson said.

The second major on the women’s tour is again being played at the site of previous men’s majors, where big tee shots can pay big dividends. Henderson won her first major at Sahalee last year, and Wie claimed her only major — the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open — at Pinehurst.

Praise for Olympia Fields, a tree-lined classic layout just south of Chicago, is nearly unanimous. But it’s being tempered by players struggling to navigate the changing wind, with gusts up to 16 mph. Oh called that a “massive” factor in her decision-making.

“We kind of anticipated it,” she said. “It’s the ‘Windy City.’ But it was like this from the very beginning and I stayed patient out there.”

SENIOR OPEN: In Peabody, Mass., Kirk Triplett shot an 8-under 62 on Thursday in the first round of the U.S. Senior Open to match the lowest round in a PGA Tour Champions major.

Triplett started on No. 10 and played his first nine holes in 4 under. After making the turn, he birdied two of the first three holes, eagled the 341-yard, par-4 fourth hole and closed with five pars. That left him one stroke ahead of Olin Browne, who left himself short on a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

Loren Roberts is the only other player to shoot a 62 in the U.S. Senior Open, setting the record in 2006 at Prairie Dunes in Kansas. Ten players have shot 62 in major tournaments on the Champions Tour, including Browne. The 2011 U.S. Senior Open champion shot a 62 in the 2012 Senior Players Championship for a share of that tournament’s record.

PGA: In Potomac, Md., David Lingmerth is one of a few players in the Quicken Loans National field with any experience to draw on at TPC Potomac — and it’s the best kind of experience.

Lingmerth won a Web.com Tour event on the tight, tricky layout near Washington in 2012. On Thursday, the Swede once again relied on his accuracy off the tee to shoot a 5-under 65 and take the first-round lead.

TPC Potomac is hosting the Quicken Loans National for the first time and has been extensively redesigned since it last welcomed the PGA Tour in 2006.

Troy Merritt, the winner two years ago at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, was a stroke back along with Marc Leishman, Johnson Wagner, Sung Kang, Nick Taylor and Daniel Summerhays.