LEONA MAGUIRE NEEDED to show grit to card a three-over par 73 on what turned out to be a dramatic opening day of the US Women’s Open.
While Antrim’s Stephanie Meadow was forced to withdraw due to illness, and world No.1 Nelly Korda stumbled to a nightmare 10 at the par-3 12th hole on her way to a 10-over-par 80, Maguire entered the clubhouse tied for 66th on three-over par.
Six players were on the course at one-under par overall to share the lead with the clubhouse lead at level par 70 shared by South Korean Kim Sei-young, Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling, Japan’s Chisato Iwai and US amateur Megan Schofill.
Maguire bogeyed two of her opening three holes before a birdie on six was followed by two more dropped shots after the turn on 10 and 17 at the Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.
Clare’s Áine Donegan was three shots further back from Maguire on six over, the Ennis native bogeyed the par-four fourth before replying straight away with a birdie on the fifth.
You can view the leaderboard hereHowever, a double bogey on the seventh was followed by four more bogeys on eight, 14, 17 and 18.
But the big story of the day involved the dramatic collapse of current world No.1 Korda, who arrived as a heavy favorite after winning six of her past seven starts, including the year’s first major tournament at the Chevron Championship in April.
But the 25-year-old American, the daughter of former Australian Open tennis champion Petr Korda, left the course sharing 120th and 11 strokes off the pace after six bogeys, three birdies and her horror 12th hole.
“I just didn’t really want to shoot 80 and I just kept making bogeys,” Korda said. “I’m human. I’m going to have bad days. I played some really solid golf up to this point. Today was just a bad day. That’s all I can say.”
– © AFP 2024
