Maria Hjorth ties for third in first round of Kingsmill Championship
Swedish Maria Hjorth fired an impressive 65 in the opening round of Kingsmill Championship at Williamsburg, Virginia, standing tied for the third position along with three other contenders.
Hjorth kicked off the first round with heaps of confidence and made balanced strokes on almost all the holes.
The Swedish star faced a tough field featuring prominent LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) stars, but she stood her ground till the final hole of her round.
Most of the players, who started early in the day, did not face any difficulty completing their round. However, bad light forced the official to suspend the round, leaving many players waiting for their tee time.
Hjorth, who has been seeking to win an LPGA tournament since her last victory at the Avnet LPGA Classic in May 2011, started the opening round with a solid plan and did not let her nerve rattle her at all.
Although the field is quite strong, the Swedish golfer kept most of her rivals in trouble right from the start of the first day.
She shot a birdie on the first hole, putting pressure on other contenders. She then parred the second hole and drained another impressive birdie-putt on the next hole.
On the par-4 6th, Hjorth once again sent the crowd cheering as she carded her third birdie of the round.
On the back nine, the LPGA titan kept the pressure intact on her rivals as she did not give any chances to them. She displayed a solid performance on the difficult par-3 13th as she made a birdie-putt.
Hjorth’s confidence boosted as she avoided carding any bogey in the round. She received a big round of applause from the crowd after she shot an eagle on the par-5 15th hole.
“I played solid today, gave myself some good chances, made a few ‑‑ a couple really good par saves out there, too, which always you need to do. And the eagle, I hit a really good drive and then I had 220 to the pin and I hit a 3‑wood to a foot,” the 38-year-old said.
“It's been mostly down this year, not so much up. It's great”.
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