At start of major, ace sets the pace
Hole-in-one helps Olson shoot 67, take 1-shot lead
HOUSTON— AmyOlson got back to under par with one swing, an 8-iron for a hole-in-one on her seventh hole Thursday, and kept right on going until she had a4-under 67anda one-shot lead in the U.S. Women’s Open.
On a perfect day, the scores made it perfectly clear that Champions Golf Clubwasprimedto provide a stern test.
Olson, aprolificwinnerat NorthDakotaStateandstill winless in seven years on theLPGATour, wasamong only 11 players who broke 70 on the Cypress Creek and Jackrabbit courses. For the first time, two courses are being used for theopening rounds because of the limited daylight by postponing thepremier event in women’s golf to December.
Outof 156 players, only36 were at par or better.
“We had absolutely perfect weather today and 4 under is leading,” Champions member Stacy Lewis said after a 72. “I don’t think scores are goinganywhere.”
Moriya Jutanugarn managedto keep bogeys off her card on the Jackrabbit course for a 68, leaving her tied with formerWomen’s British Open champion Hinako Shibuno (Cypress Creek) and A Lim Kim (Jackrabbit).
SophiaPopovwasamong the group at 69. She figured itwould be a long shot to be in the U.S. Women’s Open this year when the USGA had to scrap qualifying because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And then when golf resumed, Popov earned a spot in theWomen’s British Open and won at Royal Troon.
And nowshe’s already in themixat theU.S. Women’s Open, along with so many others. Asked if she had come down fromthe cloud of her surprise major victory, Popov smiled and said, “AmI downyet?”
“I’m trying not to come down off of it. I quite like it,” she said. “But yeah, I think it took me a couple weeks, but after that it was back to reality. You’ve got to grind, you’ve got to practice, you’ve got to do everything the sameway you did before, just nowyou have a lot more events to play and better events to play.”
Noneof the topfive inthe world ranking broke par. Jin YoungKoopenedwith a 73, while Sei Young Kim had a 72 in what could be a battle for No. 1 this week. Nelly Korda, playing for the first time intwomonthsbecause of back pain, had only one birdie in her round of 73. Danielle Kang didn’t make any birdies and shot 72.
Thestarting times for the second round were moved upa littlemore thananhour because or rain andwindin the forecast, which figures to make the courses even tougher.
For one day, Jackrabbit was about a stroke easier. Cypress Creek will be used on theweekend.
Most enjoyable for Olson was watching her 8-iron in flight on the par-3 16h hole and tracking it all the way into the hole, her second ace in competition on the LPGA Tour. She had a big crew of family and friends from North Dakota for her previous hole-in-one. She had only a few marshals, two other players and caddies, and a few people from a backyard to provide the cheers on Thursday.
“I had 141 to the flag and the pinwasonthe right side of the green with the wind kind of coming from from the right,” she said. “So I hit a fade to try to hold the wind, and it landed two paces short of the flag, had some good spin on it and just trickled in. We sawthe whole thing, which was fun.”
Megan Khang was the only player toreach 5under on the day until dropping a few shots on the back nine at Jackrabbit and finishing with a double bogey on the 18th hole when she flubbed a pitch that came back downto her feet. That dropped her to a 70.
Brittany Lincicome, a two-time ANA Inspiration winner, suffered the same fate. She was at 3 under for the day and without a bogey on her card when she missed her tee shot to the left and her approach below the green on the left. Her pitch was weak and back down the slope, and her next pitch was too strong. She made double bogey and shot 70.
“The U.S. Open you can just lose your concentration for two seconds and then make a double within like two seconds,” Lincicome said. “Super bummed to finish thatway.”