Leona Maguire admitted pre-tournament that she hadn’t put all facets of her game together this season and that was reflected in a first round 76 at the US Women’s Open at Erin Hills.
Maguire’s improved driving this season saw her hit 13 of 14 fairways but her approach play has been an issue this term and she hit just 9 of 18 greens in regulation as she slumped to four-over, three shots outside the cut mark and eight off the lead.
The Cavan star, who had a top-8 in this event in 2022, opened with four straight pars before a double bogey on the par-5 14th set the tone for a day of struggle. Further bogeys came on 17 and the 2nd before she added her only birdie of the day on the third.
A bogey on the 8th leaves her outside the top-100 on the leaderboard.
Six players share the lead on a bunched leaderboard as Rio Takeda, Yealimi Noh, Jinhee Im, Angel Yin, Julia Lopez Ramirez and 2020 champion A Lim Kim opened with rounds of 4-under-par 68.
More than 50 players are within four strokes of the leaders.
“This is a major tournament, so before I came here, I was very much excited and very happy to join this,” said Takeda, who started on 10 and made six birdies in a nine hole stretch from the 14th.
“During the play, I really agree that patience is very important,” she said about the complete test of the U.S. Women’s Open.
Noh finished strong. She was sitting at even par then made a birdie on 13 followed by an eagle on the par-5 14th hole and another birdie on the last
“Yeah, it was a very solid day,” said Noh. “Hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. Didn’t chip around too much, so that made it more simple. U.S. Opens are always very grand, and coming in, Erin Hills definitely lived up to the expectations. Everything’s big – the fairways, the walks, need big drives, but it’s an incredible golf course.”
Scoring HERE
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