South Korean Sun Young Yoo grabs a share of early lead thanks to a string of birdies in Florida
Sun Young Yoo reeled off nine birdies in the opening round of CME Group Titleholders 2012 to romp to the top of the leaderboard along with Norwegian Suzann Pettersen and fellow South Korean
So Yeon Ryu.
It was a bright start in every aspect as the CME Group Titleholders, being staged at The TwinEagles Club, Naples, Florida, is being graced by contenders far stronger than Yoo.
But Yoo was determined not to surrender to her nerve, and this is what helped her grab an early lead with two big names.
Although her scorecard was tainted by a bogey and a double bogey on the front nine, shooting nine birdies was enough to keep her in contention throughout the day.
The South Korean star set foot on the course on Thursday morning with her head held high. She parred the first two holes and shot two consecutive birdies on the third and fourth hole.
After launching her third birdie on the 6th hole, she fumbled a little and seemed to lose grip on her putting. Yoo misjudged the ball on the greens of difficult par-3 8th
and ended up carding a double bogey.
She remained jittery on the next hole too, as she missed another seemingly easy par-putt and recorded a bogey.
On the back nine, the young gun was ready to settle score as she rattled off six birdies and avoided any bogey.
Yoo birdied the 10th and parred the next hole. She sent the crowd cheering after she shot three straight birdies from 12th to 14th hole.
“I hit the ball great all day, but I'm a little disappointed how I finished the last couple holes. But still 6‑under was a good score and I really like the course,” Yoo said while talking
to the LPGA Tour at the end of the round.
She further said that her putting was exceptionally well in the first round, despite her messing up on two holes that saw her record a double bogey and a bogey.
“I played practice round on Monday and Tuesday and I just felt it's kind of similar to Grand Cypress a little bit. I felt pretty good. And actually we got pretty lucky with the weather, it
wasn't windy out there, so I'm very happy with where I am right now”.
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