Lee Jee-Young and Mika Miyazato lead the LPGA Sime Darby
The Sime Darby of the LPGA Tour is taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia right now. With this being one of the last few events of the LPGA Tour this season, the competition among the ladies is getting more aggressive. The LPGA Tour is in Malaysia now, and
will host some more events in other countries in Asia as well.
Most of the fans came to see the famous shots of Cristie Ker and Michelle Wie, they didn’t know. Lee Jee-Young and Mika Miyazato would steal the show. Lee and Mika posted 5 under par 66 and are sharing the lead after the first round of the event.
Lee started with a pair of bogeys but then started doing well later on in the round. The 25-year old posted seven amazing birdies. Her best finish this year was a second place tie at the Canadian Women’s Open. After yesterday’s performance, she feels that
she handled herself very well on the field. The star of the show does think that her work on her swings has definitely paid off.
“My swing was very short (before) but, last year, I changed my (technical) coach and now I play more of a feel shot”, said Lee. “My current coach is Tony Ziegler but I also have two other coaches to help me with my game. Tomorrow (today) I will try harder.
I will concentrate on my goal and take it hole-by-hole. Of course, I want to keep the lead going into the final round”, she said. Lee has been triumphant in Korea before she became an LPGA tour player.
Miyazato on the other hand, shot four front-nine birdies. She had pars on her first eight holes and being at 1-under, she posted a birdie on the seventeenth hole. The first round leader made her way up to 3-under due to birdies at the first and third hole.
Then taking back to back birdies again at the eighth and ninth hole lifted her up to the top. The player was very pleased with the way she played. She said she was the hitting the ball very well and was very determined to make pars. She attempted to be
alert in every shot she made. The 21-year old won her first professional career title at the Japan Women’s Open earlier this month.
Coming down the leader board, the leaders are one shot ahead of He-Wan Han, who sits alone in third place after giving a 67.
The crowd favourite, American Michelle Wie, is definitely on a roll due to a victory and a second place finish from her last tournaments. The Canadian Open winner posted a 3-under 68 and tied in fourth place today.
Wie said that it was a long day yesterday, but she had fun. Playing her round with Suzzan Pettersen and Tseng Yani, she’s looking forward to the second round. Michelle tied fourth position with the Canadian Alena Sharp, Maria Hjorth from Sweden, and South
Korean s**+ Hyun Ahn.
World Number one player, Ai Miyazato, didn’t give a very good performance on the first day. She shot a 76 to tie for the 51st position and is near the bottom of a field of sixty players. That is definitely something not expected of the ‘best’
woman golfer in the World. Cristie Ker, who is in close competition for World Number one, shot a 1-over and is number 32nd. This tournament might just be the platform for Kerr to take her place back.
Out of all the British players competing in the event, Catriona Matthew enjoyed the best round of all the players from Britain. She scored a level par 71.
The game was stopped for more than three hours because of the weather. However, since it did resume, the whole field was able to play. With Lee and Mika leading the first round the competition will be close. The competition is very tough and only the best
will win the Sime Darby LPGA.
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