Leaders capitalise on early calm conditions
Brooke Henderson and Jodi Ewart-Shadoff knew their 8.09am tee time had been handy but that didn’t mean they weren’t happy to be out in front.
Capitalising on calm morning conditions, Canadian young gun Henderson and Englishwoman Ewart-Shadoff held the joint lead after round one of the LPGA New Zealand Women’s Open yesterday.
Playing in the same group, also the group immediately ahead of Kiwi Lydia Ko, the duo carded impressive opening rounds of seven-under-par 65 at the Windross Farm course near Auckland.
The matching efforts had the pair one ahead of unheralded Spaniard Belen Mozo, who fired a six-under 66 after also going out in a morning group, while Welsh player Amy Boulden shot the same number in arguably the best performance of the day after playing the bulk of her round once a stiff breeze had filled in.
American major winner Brittany Lincicome, who played with Ko, and Spaniard Beatriz Recari held a share of fifth at five under, with Ko a further three shots back at two-under and in a tie for 18th.
Arguably the second favourite coming into the inaugural LPGA event on Kiwi soil, Henderson was all smiles after getting off to a fast start and picking up shots at three of the four par five holes in a slick round that started on the back nine and included five other birdies and just one bogey.
‘‘If the wind picks up it is definitely a completely different course,’’ the 20-year-old world No
12 said having completed her round just as the wind began to show itself at the links-style layout at Ardmore.
‘‘We were very fortunate this morning the wind was very calm and the greens were holding a bit better than they were the last few days, we knew we could take advantage.
‘‘The afternoon tee times will be a bit of a different story.’’
There was similar satisfaction for Ewart-Shadoff, perhaps even more so after a run of recent form that includes missing the cut at four of her last six events but also managing second at the British Open early last month and one other top 15 result.
The 29-year-old nailed seven birdies in her blemish free round, including three on the trot on her second nine, and also felt the almost complete lack of wind from their 8.09am tee time assisted hugely with her group’s slick scoring.
‘‘Going out there I knew I had to take advantage of conditions but I didn’t expect to play as well as I did,’’ the world No 30 said, highlighting putting as the best component of her performance.
‘‘Knowing Sunday is not looking good and tomorrow and Saturday are iffy. There were a lot of birdies out there and you had to take them.
‘‘If the weather is really good people can shoot the lights out around here. It’s not necessarily short but you can be very aggressive and the greens are rolling really true.’’
Neither of the leaders, though, was getting ahead of themselves.
Given they had been afforded such benign conditions on an open course so exposed to the elements and would have later tee times for round two, both Henderson and Ewart-Shadoff believed a lot depended on how mother nature behaved.
It was about making the best of the conditions you were presented with and ensuring you were at least in touch come the business end of the event, Henderson said.
‘‘The course is playing shorter than we typically play but that’s also because it was very calm [for us] today.
‘‘One par five today I had 80 yards [to the hole] and in a practice round I had 150, it depends on the wind and even if you’re a few shots back going into the weekend it could really make a difference.’’