BELMONT, Mich. — After one round of action in the Meijer LPGA Classic, it’s crowded at the top.
Lauren Stephenson, Charley Hull, Nasa Hataoka and Leona Maguire stand tied atop the leaderboard after shooting 7-under 65s Thursday. After getting off to a hot start, shooting six-under through the first nine, Stephenson bogeyed the first hole after the turn. But the South Carolina native got right back on track, pulling back two more shots on only par fives in her final nine holes.
“I started the first hole with a birdie, so that’s always a good feeling. I made like a 15-footer so it was like, Putter might feel good today,” Stephenson said. “But, yeah, I just kind of kept the momentum going. I felt like I took advantage of all the scorable holes.”
While Stephenson fell into a groove with her putter, Hataoka found success with another club in her bag. Her medium-range game carried her to four birdies in five holes on the front nine.
She said that while she has struggled with her putting recently, she’s happy with how she performed in the first round.
“The greens were pretty – there were holes where it was fast and where it was slow, so I kind of needed to adjust on that. Hopefully, I can do that tomorrow,” Hataoka said. “My iron game has been really good but didn’t click, didn’t match with my putting, so first half I was able to do that, so I’m really happy with it.”
Lauren Stephenson putts on the tenth green during the third round of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at The Olympic Club. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
Hull was putting together a serviceable round but finished her day with a dream-like scenario. She claimed two eagles in her final five holes and shot 5-under in that same span.
While that’s an impressive way to finish, she wasn’t all pleased. She was disappointed in the way she hit her driver off the tee. So as soon as she took a short break after her morning round, she was back on her grind trying to find the right stroke with the club.
“I feel really good with my irons. It’s just my driver. As long as I can get it somewhere down near the fairway I’ve got a chance because I’m hitting my irons well,” Hull said. “I need to sort my driver out…so I’m going to go grab some food and move to the range and work on it.”
Maguire shot a bogey-free round as well to stay up top with the leaders.
Min Lee looked like she was going to swoop into first place on her own through the first 13 holes. Heading into the 14th, she was 8 under. But she found the lake on her tee shot on 14 and ended up shooting 2 over from then on out. She finished with 6-under 66.
She was in good spirits after her late-round mishaps, though. While she knows she left some shots out on the course, she knows there’s plenty of time to make up ground this weekend.
“I mean, definitely it’s a little frustrating, but didn’t really bother me because this is golf and you’re going to make some bogeys and you’re going to make some birdies,” Lee said. “It’s still early, only the first round, so I’m not really asking too much.”
Ariya Juntanugarn is tied with Lee at 6 under and there are 11 players just behind them at 5 under.
Though there are a few familiar names near the top spot, the surprise of the day was Brooke Henderson. The No. 8 golfer in the world has won this tournament twice before, but she struggled Thursday, posting a 3-over 75. Her group included two other top-10 players in No. 6 Lexi Thompson and No. 2 Nelly Korda, who both finished 4 under on the day.
Thompson said that the course might have played a bit different for the afternoon groupings than it did for the morning tee times, which is when all the leaders got going.
“Maybe in the morning just everything played a bit soft, newer, fresher greens, maybe a little bit quicker. Then in the afternoon you got all the play and might be a little bumpier,” Thompson said. “Overall the course played great in the morning and afternoon.”
The second round is scheduled to get underway Friday morning, but there’s a chance of rain in the forecast. While most of the players want the rain to hold off, one of the leaders, England’s Hull, wouldn’t mind a little pause to the action.
Especially after hitting it so well the first day.
“Hopefully it gets a delay so I can watch the England-Scotland football tomorrow it’s the Euros,” Hull said. “I think it’s good to get a good score going, especially when it’s bad weather coming in, but it’s (a) very scoreable golf course so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”