Irish interest this week was abruptly halved with the withdrawal of Stephanie Meadow, so all attention would turn to Leona Maguire starting among the morning groups in California.
A dropped shot on the par-4 fifth hole at Palos Verdes Golf Club would slip Maguire back into the pack however her strong play off the tee, hitting fairways and a sand save kept her in touch. Birdie on the par-5 seventh brought the Cavan woman and previous course winner back to level par which is how she’d make the turn turn.
Maguire’s outward nine saw her hit every fairway, however difficulties with her approach play would need some tidying up as she’d hit just five of nine greens in regulation and traded birdies at each of the back side’s par-5s with a brace of bogeys on the par-3s either side to end the day tied for 44th.
Canadian Maude-Aimee Leblanc is the early leader after shooting the lowest round of her career and the only bogey-free round of day one to post -7 and lead 2024 rookie Malia Nam by one shot.
Leblanc was peerless on course today, starting on the 10th and birdying both par-5s on her front nine. A back nine of high quality would follow with birdies on her final three holes helping her return in 31 and 64 overall. A welcome shot in the arm coming off the back of two missed cuts in her first events of the season and a curtailed 2023 due to injury.
Palos Verdes would show its teeth throughout the day putting up a stiff challenge to some of the Tour’s big names. There were doubles for Anna Nordqvist on the par-4 fifth and 12th, and another for Georgia Hall on the par-3 13th, a hole that would challenge many today, including Maguire who herself dropped a shot there.
There were fireworks too with Danielle Kang carding an ace on the 11th. The par-3 was Kang’s second hole of the day and the 174 yard, 5-iron was the first hole-in-one on tour this LPGA season.
The afternoon groups could not reel in the leader, though some big names are jockeying for position moving into day two. Charley Hull provided much of the entertainment holing out from 62 yards on the par-4 eighth and almost again on 10. Local favourite Rose Zhang was also pin seeking today and having just finished her final exams this week, would recover from a shaky start to put together a run on her back nine to leave herself well placed on -3. The chasing group on -5 include Japan’s Yuka Saso whose fine round was only blighted by a double on the par-3 17th.
Speaking after her solo bogey-free round Leblanc was upbeat: “I felt like I hit the ball really well today and whenever I missed the green I was able to make up-and-down. Made some really good saves and just kept the momentum going through the round, so yeah, the putting was good as well”, she said. “These greens can get really tricky. They’re hard to read, but I feel like my caddie and I did a good job reading them today, so I’ll take it.”
An already tricky course, and with wind expected to come in to play on Friday, Palos Verdes is shaping up to be a challenge for the pack looking to make it into the weekend in California.
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