LPGA season kicks off: Stacy Lewis and Sarah Kemp atop the leaderboard after 1st round of Women’s Australian Open
LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) event Women’s Australian Open started at Royal Melbourne on Thursday, with a strong roster comprising some of the big names in women’s golf.
According to the first round, American Stacy Lewis and Australian Sarah Kemp are the best by far.
Both players finished tied 1st, sharing the lead in the first round. Lewis performed amazingly well and carded a 4-under 69.
On the other hand Sarah Kemp, Australia, also proved her worth by recording a 4-under 69.
Royal Melbourne, which is featuring key players in the event, did not see big players reach atop the leaderboard in the first round.
The current world number one Yani Tseng, who is seeking to record a win at the tournament for the third straight year, could not come up to her fans’ expectations and finished one stroke behind the leaders.
Lewis was prominent for her birdies in the round. She recorded 6 birdies and 2 bogeys. Lewis was confident enough to offset some of her lousy strokes.
Her 1st birdie was recorded on the par-4 6th. She then parred the next hole. On the front nine, Lewis managed to maintain a clear lead over her rivals.
Although she made some errors and faltered a little on the front nine, a string of birdies helped her keep her momentum going.
She bogeyed the par-4 11th and reeled off two straight birdies on the par-5 12th and par-4 13th.
On the other hand, Kemp was no different than Lewis as she recorded the same score. However, she played flawlessly, avoiding bogeys.
Hot favourite Tseng was not so impressive, as she messed up the round with two bogeys. Her overall score was 3-under 70.
Tseng exhibited her putting skills on the course, draining 5 birdies, but due to 11 pars and two bogeys, she could not reach atop the leaderboard.
Leaderboard after the first round (Normal 73)
1. Sarah Kemp (AUS) 69
. Stacy Lewis (United States) 69
3. Julieta Granada (PAR) 70
. Brittany Lincicome (United States) 70
. Yani Tseng (TPE) 70
6. Sandra Gal (GER) 71
. Sarah Oh (KOR) 71
. Melissa Reid (ENG) 71
. So Yeon Ryu (KOR) 71
. Jessica Speechley (AUS) 71
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