Battling Charley pleased with recovery skills

Charley Hull’s day began at 4am, involved a brief workout and then a tee time of 6.52am. A little after 7am she was two over par before, one hole later, another shot went.

But, showing signs of remarkable maturity and skill on a day of high scoring, she reached the final tee at level par.

She then drove out of bounds at the 18th, a hole which was producing plenty of birdies, but then made four with her second ball to finish with a 73 and one-over total.

“I told myself to just keep hitting it straight and I got back to level par. I should have come in definitely way under par but I’ll take the positives,” she said.

“It’s a shame about the tee shot at the last, that block just came out of the middle of nowhere but I’m pretty happy how I’m hitting it.”

Lewis happy to get off to under par start

World No.1 and defending champion Stacy Lewis was happy to finish her opening round in the red but expects a tougher test if the weather changes as expected.

Playing alongside Hull, the dropped shots came early on but a tidy back nine resulted in a one under par 71.

“This golf course is so hard,” Lewis said. 

“I couldn’t image four days of this much rough with wind and all that entails.

“It looks like we could have some worse weather on Sunday which will be interesting but it was nice to play the course today the way it should be played.

“Anything under par on this course is a good score. I didn’t hit the ball great today but managed to get the ball in the hole and post a red number.”
You’re looking for balls and it’s not like, oh it’s here. It’s in deep.” Early leader Uehara insists putting is the key

On a day which looked good for scoring, Japan’s Ayako Uehara was the only player to make the most of it with an impressive four under 68.

Uehara claimed it was the best round she has put together this year. 

“My putting had not been so good before this week,” she said. 

“I had been giving myself birdie chances but not making them.

“But this week it has been good so far which has given me confidence. I think this is my best round of the year so far.”

Eagle gives Holly Clyburn momentum

England’s Holly Clyburn was another to recover from a shaky start with a stunning eagle at the 6th on her way to a solid 69.

“I hit a nice drive down the middle, a 4-iron to about 15 feet and holed my putt down a left-to-right slicker. I would have been happy to two putt for birdie but came off with an eagle.

“It just got the momentum going. After that I played great and holed some nice putts.”

Clyburn added how the thick rough was resulting in some slow play.

“We were about half-an-hour over time. People are off target, that’s it. You’re looking for balls and it’s not like, oh it’s here. It’s in deep.”

James Savage

Former equipment editor of NCG. Inconsistent ball-striker and tea-maker.

Handicap: 17

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