Ryu sets pace with record 63
Swinging Skirts leader has seven birdies in eight-hole stretch
DALY CITY— So Yeon Ryu shot a tournament-record 9-under 63 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
Playing in the first group of the day off the 10th tee, the South Korean player had seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch on the back nine and added two more on the front nine at Lake Merced.
“I was kind of lucky to tee it off really early,” Ryu said. “I had a really fresh green, no wind. Also San Francisco is really cold in the morning, but this morning it was just perfect temperature.
“I think today just everything was just great. My tee shot was great. I only missed one green. Putting was really good.”
Taiwan’s Candie Kung and Japan’s Haru Nomura were two strokes back at 65.
Kung opened her afternoon round with bogeys on 10 and 11, then birdied the next two and made seven more in a nine-hole stretch from the 17th to the seventh.
“Two three-putts, hello, what a start,” Kung said. “Putting let me down the first two holes and then picked me right up on the last 16 holes. I made a lot of long putts and hit 18 greens today. This course is hard to hit fairways and greens, and I was able to keep it in play and hit all the greens.”
China’s Xi Yu Lin and the Netherlands’ Christel Boeljon shot 67, and two-time defending champion Lydia Ko was at 68 along with Catriona Matthew, Na Yeon Choi and Rachel Rohanna.
Ko already has two victo- ries in California this year, winning the Kia Classic and ANA Inspiration — the first major of the year — in consecutive weeks.
“Course is easy, whatever course she’s playing on,” the top-ranked Ko joked about Ryu. “Obviously, everything was going right today. For her to shoot a score like that, that’s really impressive.”
Ryu is winless since the 2014 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. She won the 2011 U.S. Women Open.
“Every tournament, I really want to win” Ryu said. “I think it’s a bit too early to discuss about the result. We still have three more days.”
Ko got a fashion assist from U.S. Women’s Open champion In Gee Chun on the opening hole.
“I had my two bracelets and my hair tie and I was planning on braiding my hair before I played,” Ko said. “She was like, ‘Oh, doesn’t it bother you having stuff on your wrist? I said, ‘No, no.’ Well, the hair tie was for me to braid it. She was like, ‘Do you want me to braid it for you?’ I was like, ‘Sure. It’s going to end up way nicer than how I braid it.’ She did good. I told her, ‘It’s hairstylist In Gee.’” Chun opened with a 71. Brooke Henderson also had a 71. The 18-yearold Canadian has seven straight top-10 finishes. Third-ranked Lexi Thompson and No. 4 Stacy Lewis each shot 72.
Pleasanton native Paula Creamer opened with an even-par 72. San Jose’s Christina Kim had a 72, and former Stanford student Michelle Wie shot a 73.
Last week’s winner Minjee Lee (73) won the U.S. Girls’ Junior four years ago at Lake Merced.
Hall of Famer Juli Inkster (Los Altos Hills) opened with a 74. The 55-year-old Inkster will be honored with her own bobblehead by the Giants before their Friday night game against Miami.
Ha Na Jang withdrew after 11 holes because of illness, and Suzann Pettersen withdrew before the round because of back spasms.