Familiar territory
Kirk dominating LPGA course again
HOBART – Real estate agents in the Green Bay area might want to think about giving Katherine Kirk a call.
The 36-year-old LPGA Tour veteran hails from Australia and lives in Kansas now, but she’s clearly right at home in northeastern Wisconsin.
Kirk, the defending champion in the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic, shot a blistering 10-under-par 62 in the first round Thursday at Thornberry Creek at Oneida.
The career-low round for Kirk tied the tournament course record and gave her a one-shot lead over Sei Young Kim after the first round.
“Obviously, there are good vibes here and I have a lot of confidence on this golf course,” Kirk said. “It just suits my eye. So with that being said, you can only play one hole at a time. That’s all I did today. I just stayed in the moment. It’s a marathon. It’s not a sprint. It’s going to take another three really good rounds to be in contention on Sunday.”
Kirk, who is No. 64 in the world in the Rolex Rankings, won last year’s tournament at 22-under. She shot 63 in the second round of last year’s Classic.
Kirk started her opening round Thursday on the back nine and made three consecutive birdies. After two pars, she made four birdies in a row to go out in 29. She was 14for-14 on fairways hit and 17 of 18 on greens in regulation.
“It’s always nice to start birdie, birdie, birdie. Then in your head you’re going, ‘OK, I’m hitting it well. I’m putting well. Let’s see if we can keep this going,’ ” she said. “You know there are plenty of opportunities out there, so it’s just a matter of staying patient and focused and aggressive.”
Kim birdied six holes in a row (Nos. 11-16) during her 9-under 63. The six-time LPGA winner shot 61 during the second round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic earlier this year.
Riding high: Brittany Marchand won a 2019 Kia Sorento with a holein-one during the first round of last week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes, then opened with an 8-under 64 on Thursday at Thornberry Creek at Oneida.
Marchand, an LPGA Tour rookie and member of the Canadian National Team, had a blemish-free round with eight birdies and no bogeys. She hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation.
“I think last week it was funny because it was like I had really good high moments, but it was such a grind that like the whole week felt exhausting,” she said. “Just a lot of ups and downs. I felt like I played that way, too. Like I had good stretches and bad stretches. It was a very, very interesting week.
“I like to see rounds like this happen because I feel like I have them in me. It’s good for this to come out once in a while.”
Pano over par: Alexa Pano, the 13-year-old from Florida who earned a sponsor exemption, shot 3-over 75 in the first round.
Pano started on the back nine and was 1-under through her first 11 holes, but had a four-hole stretch of bogey, double bogey, par and bogey on holes 3-6 to slip back.
Alexa Pano, a 13-year-old from Florida, lines up a putt during the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic first round Thursday. (Photo: Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK Wisconsin)
Other notables: Lydia Ko opened with a 3-under 69. The 15-time winner on the LPGA Tour and world No. 14 ranked player started on No. 10 and was even through nine holes before making three birdies on her inward nine.
Brooke Henderson, ranked No. 16 in the world, opened with a 7-under 65. Ariya Jutanugarn, ranked No. 3, opened with a 6-under 66.