US Women's Open Golf 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Scores and LPGA Highlights
The first round of the U.S. Women's Open at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, California, is in the books, and Mirim Lee paced the pack with an eight-under 64 on Thursday.
Here is the top of the leaderboard after the first day:
| 1 | Mirim Lee | -8 |
| T2 | Cristie Kerr | -5 |
| T2 | Minjee Lee | -5 |
| T2 | Amy Yang | -5 |
| T5 | Anna Nordqvist | -4 |
| T5 | Brittany Lang | -4 |
| T5 | Kelly Tan | -4 |
| T8 | Eun-Hee Ji | -3 |
| T8 | Moriya Jutanugarn | -3 |
| T8 | Sydnee Michaels | -3 |
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The full leaderboard is available at the LPGA's official website.
It was a historic outing for Lee, as the USGA showed:
After a bogey on her first hole of the day, Lee—who started on No. 10—rattled off four birdies on the back nine to make the turn at three under.
She concluded her brilliant round with birdies on five of her last seven holes.
Her success came from her pinpoint accuracy, as she hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. With her putter, she was just as good, putting only 27 times for an average of 1.5 putts per hole.
The USGA showed one of her best birdie putts of the day, which came on her final hole:
Lee's playing partner, Cristie Kerr, is three strokes off the lead in a tie for second at five under.
She recorded seven birdies and a pair of bogeys on the day but isn't expecting the course to yield favorable scoring conditions for much longer, per Golf Channel's Randall Mell.
"I don't think the USGA likes when we shoot eight under on their golf course,” Kerr said. “You have to expect it to change, and if it doesn't, then you'll have opportunities to score.”
Minjee Lee is one of two others tied for second after an eagle on No. 6 sparked her day. She collected four birdies as well, with her last one coming on No. 18, via the USGA:
One of the final golfers to finish the first round, Amy Yang was two strokes behind Kerr and Minjee Lee with four holes left before birdieing Nos. 15 and 18 to join them in second place.
If the USGA changes the conditions on the course for the second round, it's unlikely that 37 golfers will record scores under par like they did Thursday.
But if Mirim Lee remains as accurate as she was in the first round, the USGA might not be able to find a course configuration that can slow her down.
Stats courtesy of the LPGA's official website.
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