Webb Five Back
Webb, who is playing her first tournament since coming so close at the Evian Championship, signed for a one-under-par 70. Her round included four birdies and two bogeys.
Webb trails Rolex World No. 1 Stacy Lewis, who sits atop of the leaderboard after an opening round of 65. The American used an aggressive approach on the 9th hole, an approach that led to three consecutive birdies on 9, 10 and 11. She finished with a bogey-free round and a feeling that she was able to get through the day. “Yeah, another week I got off to a good start again.” Lewis said.
“It was kind of one of those rounds that early it was actually kind of shaky and had to make a few par putts on the first three holes, but really just kind of hung in there and gave myself a lot of birdie looks at it and was fortunate to make a few. So it was a little bit of an ugly round, but I got a lot out of it.”
Lewis leads four South Koreans by a stroke, once again making this tournament a battle of the U.S. vs. the Republic of Korea. Players from the Republic of Korea have dominated LPGA events lately, winning six of the last seven LPGA tournaments.
Hee Young Park, Na Yeon Choi, Eun-Hee Ji and So Yeon Ryu are leading the chase at five-under-par. China’s Shanshan Feng, Thailand Pornanong Phatlum and South Koreans Mi Hyang Lee, Jenny Shin and Amy Yang sharing sixth position a further shot back.
Webb shares 30th place at one-under-par, while Katherine Kirk is at even par and tied for 40th. Sarah Jane Smith is only other Australian in the limited field event, Smith carded a three-over-par 74 and shares 66th position.