And with that, the television coverage is brought to a close. No more live pictures. Bah. So that’s how we leave things for the first day. The late-blooming South African Ashleigh Buhai leads the way. Thanks for reading and we hope to see you again tomorrow at 11am for the second round of what already promises to be one hell of a scrap for the final major title of the year.
-7: Buhai
-6: Shibuno, Kang
-5: SH Park, Hull, M Jutanugarn, Khang
-4: Lee6, A Jutanugarn, JY Ko
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Megan Khang curls in a big left-to-right breaker on 14 for birdie. That moves her into a share for fourth at -5. Up on 18, Chun In-gee pars for a 69, while Lizette Salas makes her first bogey of the day after taking an interminable amount of time over a 15-foot putt. Much good it did her. She ends up with a 69 as well. They’re both -3.
It looks like Carlota Ciganda will be in contention in yet another major this week. She birdies 16 after whipping a lovely second shot from the trees down the left to 12 feet, then nearly makes another at 17 by going close with a 30-foot putt. Par will do, and she’s -3 with just 18 to traverse.
Ewan Murray is our man at Woburn. Here’s his first take on a fine round for Charley Hull, a Woburn member who has responded to the pressure of playing on her home course rather better than a couple of Portrush local heroes did two weeks ago.
Chun In-gee’s round is threatening to unravel towards the end. She drops another shot, this time at 17, the result of charging a long birdie putt well past the hole, then prodding with great uncertainty at the one coming back. She’s -2. Meanwhile up on 18, Nelly Korda pars for a 70. At -2, she’s a couple of shots better off than her sister Jessica. But her playing partner Ko trundles in a confident birdie putt, and she’s signing for a 68. That’s a great putt. How on earth did she end up taking four putts on 14?!
-7: Buhai (F)
-6: Shibuno (F), Kang (F)
-5: SH Park (F), Hull (F), M Jutanugarn (F)
-4: Lee6 (F), A Jutanugarn (F), JY Ko (F), Salas (17), Pressel (15), Khang (12)
Ko Jin-young cracks her second at 18 straight at the flag. If the stick wasn’t in, that would have dropped into the cup after a couple of bounces. But instead it clips off the flag and rolls ten feet past. She’s nearly holed out from the fairway for eagle twice now. Barring that egregious three-putt from two feet at 14, she’s been astonishingly good today.
Ko Jin-young’s tee shot into 17 is pin high, but a good 50 feet left of the flag. A pull that she’s none too impressed with. But two putts rescue a par, and she remains at -3. Chun In-gee finds a greenside bunker to the right of 16 and drops her first shot of the day; she’s back to -3.
Henderson and Hall both find the 18th green with their second shots. Neither go particularly close, but then both had to draw around some overhanging branches. They both make two-putt pars from distance, and both sign for excellent three-under 69s. Hall looks exceptionally happy, or perhaps relieved, as she’s launched the defence of her title in fine fashion, after a year of distinctly average form. Meanwhile Nelly Korda yips from a couple of feet at 17 and slips back to -2.
Chun In-gee already has a couple of majors to her name. She tasted victory at the 2015 US Open and the 2016 Evian Championship, winning the latter with a total of -21, the lowest in any major tournament, women or men. She’s still only 24, but she’s not really featured in the majors since tying for eighth at the 2016 British Open. She might be in the mood to finally compete again, having birdied 3, 4, 10 and now 15. She’s -4.
Ariya Jutanugarn makes her birdie at the last. It’s what her second shot deserved. Out in 34, back in 34, and after Jeongeun Lee6 she’s the second player of the day to card 68. She’s -4. But it’s a bogey-bogey finish for Ayako Uehara, a tiddler missed, and that’s a two-under 70.
Georgia Hall is alongside Brooke Henderson on the 18th fairway. As she waits for the green up ahead to clear, she may be contemplating the fact that England’s two other big hopes, Charley Hull and Bronte Law, have made it round without making a single bogey. Can she match their feat? Hull signed for a five-under 67, Law a two-under 70. A par for Hall will get her round in a three-under 69.
Ko Jin-young sends her second at 16 pin high to 12 feet, but doesn’t quite hit the birdie putt. It dies off to the right and that’s just par. Up on 18, Ariya Jutanugarn swishes her second straight at the flag, and sets up a four-footer for birdie. Meanwhile back on the tee, Brooke Henderson sends a huge hook into the gallery, and gets an outrageous break when her ball smacks some poor bugger on the back and rebounds onto the fairway!
Hall makes her par saver! Still no blemishes on her card. She really got out of jail there after a couple of extremely poor shots. But it was a fine putt. She remains at -3. Ko Jin-young makes her birdie putt on 15 to return to -3. And on the par-three 14th, Maria Torres of Puerto Rico, playing in the British Open for the first time, nearly dunks her hybrid straight into the cup! The ball ends up a couple of inches from the flag, and she’ll be tapping in to move to level par.
A closing par for Jeongeun Lee6. The US Open champion therefore posts the first 68 of the day. She’s in the clubhouse at -4. Back on 17, trouble for Georgia Hall, who mishits her tee shot into the par-three. She only reaches the fringe, and the flag’s tucked towards the back of a deep green. Out comes the wedge, and it’s another poor shot, landing 20 feet short of the flag and hardly rolling on at all. A first bogey of the day looks likely.
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A three-putt bogey for Ayako Uehara on 17. The fault of a tee shot sent left and long onto a large green. She’s -3. Going the other way, Nelly Korda, who rolls in a 30-footer on 15 to rise up to -3. And Morgan Pressel, who won her only major to date in 2007, at the Kraft Nabisco (now the ANA Inspiration) when just 18 years old, birdies 12 to move to -4.
Ko Jin-young bounced back from her first bogey of the day with a birdie. Now she very nearly bounces back from double-bogey with an eagle! She wedges into 15, her ball landing six feet past the flag and spinning back, lipping out and rolling three feet away. You’d normally say she’s almost certain to make her birdie, but we’ve just seen her take three putts from a similar distance on 14, so nothing’s certain.
Brooke Henderson is on it now! She creams her second into 16 straight at the flag. As the ball serenely glides through the air, she smacks her lips in satisfaction. She knows how good it is. The ball lands softly just before the cup, and she’ll be knocking that one in from 18 inches to move to -3.
An absolute shocker from the world number one Ko Jin-young at 14! She shoves a two-foot par putt right of the cup at 14. She then tugs the one coming back from similar distance! Two shots frittered away for nothing, and she walks off with double bogey, a look of utter shock across her face. Stunned silence in the gallery. Oh my word. She’s back down to -2.
Jeongeun Lee6 knocks her tee shot at 17 to six feet, and it’s her fourth birdie of the day. Megan Khang, who finished tied for eighth at the Evian last week, birdies 9 to hit the turn in 32, following shots picked up at 2, 5 and 7.
-7: Buhai (F)
-6: Shibuno (F), Kang (F)
-5: SH Park (F), Hull (F), Jutanugarn (F)
-4: Lee6 (17), Uehara (15), JY Ko (13), Khang (13)
Scrub that! Hall gets a big break, her ball snaffled by the thick rough just before the sand. That allows her to whip a gorgeous lob into the air, nearly slam-dunking home for an outrageous birdie. The ball dribbles five feet past, but she makes the putt and par will more than suffice after that miserable wedge in. She remains at -3! Birdie for Brooke Henderson, meanwhile. Her third into 15 wasn’t particularly great, but she guides in a 20-footer to rise to -2. The 2016 PGA champion hasn’t been on it at all today, but she’s battled hard to scramble a couple of pars and suddenly, having fought her way through a tough patch, things are looking a lot rosier.
A big error on the par-five 15th by Georgia Hall. She’s wedging in from 50 yards ... and fails to commit to her stroke, the ball slumping weakly into the bunker guarding the front of the green. For the first time today, she allows her head to drop. She’ll need a sandy save to remain at -3.
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Ayako Uehara has a modest record in the majors. A top-ten finish at the 2017 Evian, another at the 2018 ANA Inspiration, and not much else from the 35-year-old from Japan. She’s missed the cut at the last three majors this season. But this week promises so much more. Birdies at 3, 4, 10, 12 and now 15, with just one bogey at 11, have sent her up the standings to -4. Uehara and Ko Jin-young are the ones to watch out on the course right now.
-7: Buhai (F)
-6: Shibuno (F), Kang (F)
-5: SH Park (F), Hull (F), M Jutanugarn
-4: Uehara (15), JY Ko (13)
Ko Jin-young rediscovers her mojo in short order! From 157 yards, she arrows her second straight at the flag, her ball rolling softly towards the cup, stopping 18 inches short. Bounce-back birdie’s a-comin’. She’ll rise back to -4. Such a controlled iron in. So close to a sensational eagle. Meanwhile Lizette Salas, who tied for fifth at the PGA this year, continues to go along nicely. Having turned in 33, she’s parred the first three holes of the back nine. The 30-year-old Californian remains at -3.
Bronte Law won her first LPGA Tour title back in May, at the Pure Silk Championship in Virginia. That had been coming, because only three weeks earlier she’d lost a play-off for the Mediheal Championship in California. Now the in-form 24-year-old from Stockport is ticking along very nicely, following up birdie at 4 with another at 14. Otherwise it’s been pars.
Linnea Strom leaves a straight 15-foot uphill birdie putt short on 18. Par for a 70. The 22-year-old Swede would have been more than happy with that at the start of the day, but having risen as high as -5 at one point, that triple-bogey six at 14 is going to sting. She ends the day at -2.
A couple of big putts from a couple of big names. The US Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 rolls in a 25-foot tramliner on 15 to rise to -3. Meanwhile Ariya Jutanugarn, who won the British Open here three years ago, rakes in an absolute monster from the front of the par-three 14th. She’s -3 too.
Ko Jin-young’s wedge is seriously misbehaving now. She trundles an overly fierce chip back up the bank and 12 feet past the hole. Trouble for the winner of two majors already this season. And the putt coming back lips out. Her first birdie of the day and she’s -3. Meanwhile Henderson manages to get up and down from the back yet again, this time at 13, even though she left her chip up a good 12 feet short. Determined work by the Canadian.
Ko Jin-young’s radar is suddenly all out of whack. After that chunked chip into 11, she now sends a flyer from 80 yards over the back of the green at 12. The ball comes careering back off the bottom of a stand. That’s going to be a tricky up and down. Meanwhile it’s just par for Hall on 13 and the champion remains at -3.
Georgia Hall is beginning to enjoy her defence now. A lovely second into 13, a gentle draw, and she’ll have a look at birdie from 15 feet or so. Brooke Henderson is hanging on a bit, though. Having sent a hot one through the back at 12, she made it up and down for par with a little help from a bag of bottles. Now she’s sent another approach through the green, and faces another par scramble. To be fair, her drive was wild as you like, sliced deep into the trees. When she was watching that sail towards the forest, she’d have taken the position she’s in after two strokes. A lucky bounce back towards the fairway saved the day there.
Thanks John. Back just in time for Georgia Hall’s third birdie of the day. An approach into 12 knocked to three feet, and in goes the putt. She’s -3. Meanwhile Ko Jin-young regroups after that clumpish chip into 11, lagging up from distance to a couple of feet. She’ll escape with par. By all accounts, her short-game coach films her behaviour on the greens, as opposed to the putting stroke itself. In other words, carry yourself with confidence, it’s half the battle. Note to all amateur golfers: try the putt strut next time you’re out and about. It seems to be working for Ko. She remains at -4. And her playing partner Nelly Korda stays at -2, having spurned a six-footer for birdie.
Lydia Ko misses her bogey putt and has to settle for a double. She goes to +3, and that spells danger. If the conditions stay the same there will be problems making the cut at that rate of scoring. The other Ko duffs her approach shot to 12, and while she fashions a smile, that’s an untimely and unlikely mistake.
And with that, this duffer steps aside, and the real deal in Scott Murray returns.
Salas might have gone to -4 on the ninth but her birdie putt was beaten by the ridges and riddles of this Milton Keynesian surface. She looks a little befuddled by the failure of her downhill effort. Ko’s tee shot on the 11th is true enough, and her second is decent too. Up ahead, near namesake Lydia Ko, of New Zealand, is struggling to land putts and around the greens. Brooke Henderson meanwhile played a shot to the 12th that was overhit, and ran on. She got lucky, in that her ball came off a bag of water bottles. A stroke of luck.
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The second-best player on the course at the moment is the American Lizette Salas, on -3. Ko looks as though she will drop down to that level after a birdie putt that falls short. But..no, her eye is fully in and that is sunk. Georgia Hall’s putt lays her herself up to make a smooth par. Korda’s knees bend in frustration as her birdie chance goes awry.
Georgia Hall’s tee shot on the tenth is healthy enough, driven to the correct position on the right-hand side of the fairway. She can target the pin from there. Ko Jin-young’s is far less secure and lands in the sand. Korda chose to whack hers to the left and lands a far better lie. How does Ko deal with the bunker? She lofts a shot on to the green and it’s safe, but with a considerable distance to the hole. Korda’s is a pearler and it sits solid and close to the hole. A beauty. Hall snaps hers halfway between Ko’s and Korda’s, wity the latter the favourite to take a birdie. Up ahead, Jenny Shin falls short on a birdie putt and signs for 69.
BREAKING NEWS: Ko Jin-young is not perfect. She pulls her birdie putt on 9 to the left, and has to settle for par. Still, she’s turning in 32, equalling the best front nine of the day. She remains at -4. Meanwhile Carlota Ciganda has been a constant feature in the majors for a few years now. The 29-year-old from Pamplona tied for fourth at the ANA this year, and finished in the top ten at the Evian last week. Throw in a third-placed spot at last year’s US Open, plus a tie for seventh last year at Lytham, and she’s due a big one. Birdies at 2 and 5 have whisked her up the leaderboard to -2.
And with that, I’m off for a quick bite to eat. John Brewin will slip seamlessly into the hotseat. See you again soon!
Not sure what fate befell Linnea Strom on the par-three 14th. We didn’t get to see her tee shot. But she must have hoicked it into serious bother, because she’s just run up a triple-bogey six. That’s crashed her all the way back down to -2. But Ko Jin-young keeps on keepin’ on. At the 9th she creams such a fine drive down the middle that she runs out of fairway. It matters little, because she lifts a careful wedge pin high to 12 feet. If she makes the next putt, it’ll be five birdies in a row, and she’ll be turning in 31 strokes.
Georgia Hall nearly drains a birdie putt from the fringe at 9. But it’s a kick-in par. She turns in 34. She’s -2. Brooke Henderson fails to hit a birdie effort from 12 feet, and she’s not half as happy as she turns in 35. Meanwhile back at the par-three 8th, Ko Jin-young swings with such grace and timing that you could almost think she’s doing nothing at all. Her ball lands eight feet short of the flag as she twirls her club contentedly. She’ll have that to move to -4. And in it goes! No more than her exquisite tee shot deserved. Four birdies in a row! Meanwhile belated news of Linnea Strom, who having turned in 32 birdied 12. Time to update the leaderboard.
-7: Buhai (F)
-6: Shibuno (F), Kang (F)
-5: SH Park (F), Hull (F), M Jutanugarn (F), Strom (13)
-4: JY Ko (8)
Watch out, field! Ko Jin-young is on the move. She curls in a huge left-to-right breaker on 7, and the smooth-swinging ANA and Evian champion is already -3. When you’re hot, you’re hot. Meanwhile may I offer many apologies to the exciting Maria Fassi, who fails to get up and down from a swale to the side of the par-three 8th, and drops to +1. I’ll keep quiet next time. Bah. Such a thin line between -2 and +1. The majesty of golf, right there.
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Maria Fassi came second at the inaugural Augusta Women’s Amateur event this year. She was four shots shy of winner Jennifer Kupcho, but four clear of the rest of the field. The pair were sensational that week in Georgia, and both are now beginning to make their mark on the professional game. Kupcho came second at the Evian last week, and now it’s Fassi’s turn to shine. The 21-year-old Mexican is so unlucky at the par-five 7th. Having been one of the few competitors so far to go for the green in two, she finds herself shortsided behind a bunker, but flops majestically high over the sand and down towards the cup. If there was no flagstick, it was slam-dunking in for eagle. But it hits the pin and twangs out to six feet. So unfortunate, and you know how these things so often go. The birdie putt’s missed, the ball lipping out when it was surely due to drop. She remains at level par.
Ashleigh Buhai’s tee shot at 18 leaks a little bit to the right. But from the semi-rough she sends her second to the fringe at the back of the green. She very nearly drains a 35-footer for her eighth birdie of the day, but what looked a great putt goes whistling five feet past. But she nails the one coming back, and that’s a 65 that gives her the new clubhouse lead. According to Laura Davies, who is in the Sky commentary box (yes!), she’s a “solid and steady” performer whose early career was blighted by injury. But now she’s finally delivering on her teenage promise. A sensational round of golf by the 30-year-old from Johannesburg.
-7: Buhai (F)
-6: Shibuno (F), Kang (F)
-5: SH Park (F), Hull (F), M Jutanugarn (F), Strom (12)
When a bounce goes your way, you’ve got to take advantage of the break. And on 7, Georgia Hall does exactly that, sending her third to 15 feet and making the birdie putt. She’s -2. Birdie too for her partner Brooke Henderson, who returns to -1. And both of them are now on the dancefloor at the par-three 8th.
Back-to-back birdies for the new world number one! Ko Jin-young comes off the back of picking up a shot at 5 by caressing an iron to six feet at the par-three 6th. The ANA and Evian champ is -2. She’s going round with Nelly Korda, who finished in a tie for third at the PGA a couple of months ago. She birdies 6 as well, following the stroke she’d picked up at 2. And to tie up a loose end from earlier: PGA champion Hannah Green finished with a highly average 73.
A huge break for the reigning champ on the par-five 7th. Hall flays her drive into trees down the right, and smacks into one of the big trunks. But a lucky bounce sends her ball into a clearing in the thicket, and she’s able to whip a wedge over some smaller trees and back onto the fairway. That should keep her going. It’s not been a great year for Hall, though: just the one top-ten finish in 15 starts, her best showing in the majors a tie for 26th at the PGA. A couple of wild tee shots today that confirm she’s not quite at the top of her form. But if she can get round today with a score - and conditions are favourable - it could light a fire for the rest of the week.
We have a new leader! Ashleigh Buhai makes it three birdies in a row, the latest coming at 16. The 30-year-old South African has done absolutely nothing in the majors: a tie for 27th at the US Open two years ago, a tie for 30th at this event, also in 2017. Until now, that is. Buhai has won the South African Open three times, mind you. Throw in wins on the European Tour at the Catalonia Masters in 2007 and the Portugal Open in 2011; she’s a big star back home. But this is an announcement on the world stage. Par on 17 keeps it going.
-7: Buhai (17)
-6: Shibuno (F), Kang (F)
-5: SH Park (F), Hull (F), M Jutanugarn (F)
-4: Strom (10)
Hall’s tee shot at the par-three 6th is straight at the flag. About 12 feet short. One that looks just fine to the lay-hacker, but the defending champ looks disgusted with herself. The birdie putt stays high on the left, a slight misread. But it’s a par that keeps her at -1. Her partner Brooke Henderson sends her tee shot long, then fluffs a chip from the thick stuff she’s sent her ball into. She can’t scramble par from the fringe, and that slips the Canadian back to level par.
The US Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 missed the cut last week at the Evian. It looks as though the extra rest over the weekend has done her some good. Birdies at 2 and 4, and she’s -2. And Ashleigh Buhai has certainly recovered her poise: another birdie, this time at 15, and she joins the clubhouse leaders Hinako Shibuno and Danielle Kang at -6!
-6: Shibuno (F), Kang (F), Buhai (15)
-5: SH Park (F), Hull (F), M Jutanugarn (F)
-4: Strom (9)
The 2016 PGA champion Brooke Henderson has started steadily. She’s -1 through the first five holes, having birdied 2. Meanwhile for the second time today, her playing partner Georgia Hall leaves a birdie putt one turn short. She’s -1 too, but it could be so much better defending champion. And a second birdie for the pre-tournament favourite Ariya Jutanugarn; having picked up a shot at 2, she now rattles in a 20-footer across 6. She’s -2.
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Caroline Masson is in with a 69. Pars all the way back home, and the 30-year-old German, who finished in a tie for third in this event a couple of years ago, looks pretty content with that. Almost as happy as these folk popping the lids on their Californian carafes.
It’s a careful two-putt par for Hall. She looks a little disappointed, having left a fairly straight 25-foot birdie putt from the fringe a good three feet short. But she tidies up, and would surely have taken par when watching her tee shot sail towards the trees. Meanwhile the 22-year-old Swede Linnea Strom, a LPGA Tour rookie this season, is out in 32, having just birdied 9. She’s -4.
Georgia Hall is in a little spot of bother down the left of 4, having whistled her drive into the trees. No matter! Even though her backswing is slightly impeded, she whip-cracks a low iron out under the branches, drawing the ball into the heart of the green. That’s a sublime escape, and though her ball scampers past the hole and settles on the fringe at the back, she allows herself a little grin anyway. A perfectly planned and near-on-perfectly executed shot, and it’ll have felt good. From a position of trouble, par now looks likely. Meanwhile birdie at 14 for Ashleigh Buhai, who has indeed rediscovered the forward momentum of earlier. She joins the group in second spot at -5.
A real comedown for Jennifer Kupcho, whose 66 lit up the rainy final day at the Evian. The inaugural Augusta champ stumbled to a 77, four days after that coming-of-age second place. All part of the learning curve for the 22-year-old from Colorado. A miserable 77 for Mel Reid, who came so close at the PGA a couple of months ago with a final day 66. Reid came into this week as a dark horse, her big-hitting style perfect for Woburn. But she’s got work to do now to avoid the cut. Meanwhile Moriya Jutanugarn pars the last and signs for a 67. The top of the leaderboard looks locked down for a while, until some of the later starters make a run anyway. Or perhaps Ashleigh Buhai will get going again.
-6: Shibuno (F), Kang (F)
-5: SH Park (F), Hull (F), Jutanugarn (F)
-4: Buhai (13)
Par for Danielle Kang up the last, and she joins Hinako Shibuno in the clubhouse lead. A 66, and she’s -6. A disappointing day for seven-time major winner Inbee Park, who never quite got going in the last round at the Evian, and has shot 75 today. Shanshan Feng had performed much better at the business end of the Evian, but it’s a 75 for her as well. They’re both +3. That’s Feng’s first card over 69 in her last nine rounds. The run had to end sometime.
The defending champ Georgia Hall makes up for that oh-so-close birdie effort on 1, with a garden-variety birdie at the accommodating par-five 2nd. That’ll settle the nerves that are bound to be jangling away right now. Meanwhile a closing bogey for Lexi Thompson, who walks off the green with her shoulders slumped. A one-under 71.
The 2017 British Open provided one of golf’s great feelgood moments, as IK Kim finally broke her major duck at Kingsbarns. Few begrudged her victory, as it was Kim who suffered perhaps golf’s most infamous yip, missing from 12 inches when the 2012 ANA Inspiration was hers for the taking. The ANA caused her some more grief this year when, in contention on the final day, she sent a drive into trees, the ball snagging and refusing to drop back down. A double-bogey seven, a right old karmic outrage. She ended tied for fourth. Anyway, she’s looking good for some better fortune this week, opening with a 69. She’s -3.
Georgia Hall begins her title defence with a bir ... argh. She was this close. A perfect opening drive, a second shot to 15 feet, then a putt that looked to be dropping before it died to the left on the final turn. A couple of blades of grass away from the dream start. Meanwhile up on 17, Danielle Kang’s hot streak continues with yet another birdie, as she swishes her tee shot at 17 to six feet and joins Hinako Shibuno at the top. Birdie for Moriya Jutanugarn, thanks to a trundle from 30 feet across 16. And a dropped shot for Ashleigh Buhai, at 11, the first blemish on her card today.
-6: Shibuno (F), Kang (17)
-5: SH Park (F), Hull (F), M Jutanugarn (16)
-4: Buhai (11)
Back-to-back birdies for Danielle Kang. She follows her kick-in birdie at 15 by teasing the gallery with a right-to-left 20-foot curler on 16. Her ball threatens to stop one dimple short of the cup, but topples in eventually. She’s just a shot off the lead. As is Ashleigh Buhai, the 30-year-old from Johannesburg who has done very little in the majors to date: her best performance is a tie for 30th in this event two years ago. But she’s birdied 2, 3, 6, 7 and now 10. And then there’s Charley Hull, who nails a 20-footer on the last and signs for an excellent opening-day 67!
-6: Shibuno (F)
-5: SH Park (F), Hall (F), Kang (16), Buhai (10)
-4: M Jutanugarn (15)
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What a major debut for Hinako Shibuno! The young Japanese sensation - I think we’re already allowed to call her that - sends her second at 18 to 12 feet, then curls in a right-to-left putt for her seventh birdie in 11 holes! She comes back in 30 strokes, signs for a 66, and now at -6 leads the British Open after her first round in major-championship golf. Wow. You’ll not see a broader grin all week ... unless she goes on to win this, of course. And don’t put it past the 20-year-old, either. One of the two titles she’s already secured at home is the Salonpas Cup, one of the four major titles in the LPGA of Japan Tour. So she’s already racked up some valuable experience when the pressure is on.
Danielle Kang is about to move to -4. The 26-year-old from San Francisco sends a wedge over the flag at the par-five 15th to 12 inches. The 2017 PGA champion has enjoyed a curious year in the majors: a couple of top-six finishes, plus two missed cuts, in a pleasing alternate pattern. If that continues, she’ll be challenging come the business end of this tournament. Meanwhile it’s back-to-back birdies for Lexi Thompson, at 15 and 16. The putter seems to work a lot better from distance, it’s the tiddlers that mess with her mind. She’s -2, and allows herself a smile for the first time in a difficult week for her.
Hinako Shibuno grabs a share of the lead on her major championship debut! The 20-year-old Japanese prodigy has been talked up by those in the know back at home, having already won twice this year on her home tour. She’s been ripping it up since the turn: birdies at 10, 11, 12 and 15, and now a wonderful iron smoothly sent towards the flag at the par-three 17th. It stops three feet short, and in goes the birdie putt that takes her to the top of the tree. How’s that for your first ever round in a major?!
-5: SH Park (F), Shibuno (17)
-4: Hull (16), M Jutanugarn (14)
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Ariya Jutanugarn is the joint favourite to win this week, along with the reigning ANA and Evian champion Ko Jin-young. She’s already won the British Open here at Woburn, back in 2016. She’s not out yet, but her older sister Moriya is keeping up appearances for the family. Back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14, to follow front-nine birdies at 2 and 4, whizz her up the standings to -4. Both the Jutanugarns are in hot form, Ariya finishing fifth at the Evian last week, Moriya a shot behind in sixth. What a story it would be if Thailand’s second major champion came from the same family, in the same championship, on the same course. Only in sport, huh.
Park Sung-hyun is in with a 67. She’d sent her approach to 18 pin high, ten feet from the flag, but her putter slipped back into Evian Mode and she had to settle for par. But that’s a magnificent response to that hugely disappointing 75 on Sunday at the Evian, when she couldn’t find a fairway or make a putt. A blistering return to form, to borrow a phrase from will-this-do music journalism.
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Laura Davies is playing in her 39th consecutive British Open. There was a dream start for the Dame this morning, as she birdied 2. But since then it’s been a miserable day for the four-time major-winning veteran. Seven bogeys and two doubles, and she walks off the 18th in a grim mood, having shot 82. Davies won the British in 1986, but never after it was upgraded to a major, her best performance coming at Sunningdale back in 2004, when compatriot Karen Stupples took the prize while Davies tied for eighth. She’s +10, and most likely will be missing the cut. I do hope she’s in the commentary box over the weekend. She was magnificent at the Open a couple of weeks ago, explaining the shots on option in an easy-going and informative manner, wearing her expertise lightly. Also at one point she took a righteous sideswipe at the advent of VAR in football, calling it out as the pointless fiasco it most certainly is. Preach on, sister.
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But what of Border Control’s Lexi Thompson? She’s level par through 14, having just missed a par putt from two feet. Thompson is sensational from tee to green, but misses so many short putts. A new grip this week, but it’s making little difference. She should have more than just the one major to her name, but the 2014 ANA Inspiration is all she’s got.
Park fails to hit her birdie putt on 16, the ball dying to the left. A great chance to pull two clear at the top spurned. She stays at -5. Meanwhile Hinako Shibuno, who has already won twice on the Japanese tour this season, birdies 15 to join Charley Hull in second place at -4. And Jennifer Kupcho, the brilliant young American who won this years inaugural Augusta Women’s Amateur, and having since turned pro came second in last week’s Evian, drains a monster across 13 for birdie. That must have been the best part of 80 feet! Sadly she’s been struggling today, perhaps understandably so after such a huge effort on Sunday in shooting 66. And the birdie only takes her back to +3. But Kupcho has game. She’s a really exciting player to watch.
Park Sung-hyun steps on the gas again. She rolls in a straight 30-foot birdie putt on the par-five 15th, then sends her second at the 16th pin high to eight feet. She’s -5, and will have that to take a two-shot lead. It’s been a relatively disappointing year in the majors for Park, the 2017 US Open and 2018 PGA winner. She nearly snatched the PGA from under the nose of Hannah Green, and was in the mix at the Evian before fading very badly indeed in the final round, driving and putting extremely erratically. But it would seem she’s shrugged off that disappointment quicksmart.
-5: SH Park (15)
-4: Hull (14)
-3: IK Kim (17), Shibuno (14), Kang (12), Masson (9), Buhai (7), Lopez (7)
Hull is out in a superstar threeball this morning. She’s playing alongside the reigning PGA champion Hannah Green, who secured her first major at Hazeltine in June by holding off a charge from Park Sung-hyun, and Shanshan Feng, the 2012 PGA winner. Feng came into this tournament in hot form, having finished in a tie for second last week at the Evian, and won the Thornberry Creek Classic in her previous outing. Her last eight rounds of tournament golf: 64, 67, 65, 63, 69, 66, 68, 68. That run could come to an end today, sadly. She’s +2, having just pulled a par tiddler left at the par-three 14th. Green also three putts the hole to bogey. It’s her first bogey of the day ... but she’s had two doubles as well. And five birdies! So she’s level par. The dictionary definition of a rollercoaster ride, right there.
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And it’s already bubbling up nicely at Woburn! Park Sung-hyun, deposed last Sunday as world number one by ANA Inspiration and Evian champion Ko Jin-young, has responded in the fashion you’d expect. Out in 32 this morning, she also birdied 10 to take the early lead at -5. But she’s since dropped a stroke at 11. And now she’s been joined at the top by Charley Hull, who had been long tipped as the woman most likely to end England’s wait for a major, since Karen Stupples won this tournament in 2004, only for Georgia Hall to beat her to it last year. Out in a relatively quiet 35, the 23-year-old from Kettering has exploded since the turn, with birdies at 10, 11 and 12.
-4: Park Sung-hyun (14), Charley Hull (12)
-3: Kim In-kyung (15), Hinako Shibuno (13), Danielle Kang (11), Caroline Masson (7), Gaby Lopez (6)
Preamble
Welcome to the Guardian’s live hole-by-hole coverage of the 2019 Women’s British Open from Woburn. It’s the fifth and last major of the year, coming a whopping four days after the dramatic conclusion of the fourth, the Evian Championship in France. Georgia Hall, on her home course, will defend a title won last year in swashbuckling fashion, pipping Pornanong Phatlum in a head-to-head battle with some heat-seeking approaches over the closing stretch at Lytham.
There’s been plenty of early action already. So with Open fever rising, let’s not hang around. Emergency! Someone, please, call Dr Golf! It’s on!
Today’s tee times
6.30am Charlotte Thomas (Eng), Austin Ernst (US), Pernilla Lindberg (Swe)
6.41am Annie Park (US), Meghan Maclaren (Eng), Nicole Broch Larsen (Den)
6.52am Celine Herbin (Fra), Kim In-kyung (Kor), Laura Davies (Eng)
7.03am Park Sung-hyun (Kor), Marina Alex (US), Brittany Altomare (US)
7.14am Inbee Park (Kor), Jessica Korda (US), Angela Stanford (US)
7.25am Minjee Lee (Aus), Hinako Shibuno (Jpn), Anna Nordqvist (Swe)
7.36am Charley Hull (Eng), Hannah Green (Aus), Shanshan Feng (Chn)
7.47am Lexi Thompson (US), Nasa Hataoka (Jpn), Anne van Dam (Ned)
7.58am Danielle Kang (US), Jennifer Kupcho (US), Minami Katsu (Jpn)
8.09am Melissa Reid (Eng), Moriya Jutanugarn (Tha), Kim Sei-young (Kor)
8.20am Azahara Munoz (Spa), Yuka Yasuda -a- (Jpn), Paula Creamer (US)
8.31am Karrie Webb (Aus), Caroline Masson (Ger), Carly Booth (Sco)
8.47am Mirim Lee (Kor), Angel Yin (US), Sandra Gal (Ger)
8.58am Marianne Skarpnord (Nor), Ryann O’Toole (US), Su Oh(Aus)
9.09am Camilla Lennarth (Swe), Olivia Cowan (Ger), Katja Pogacar (Slo)
9.20am Ashleigh Buhai (SA), Gaby Lopez (Mex), Amy Olson (US)
9.31am Lynn Carlsson (Swe), Diksha Dagar (Ind), Ally Mcdonald (US)
9.42am Yu Liu (Chn), Madelene Sagstrom (Swe), Lina Boqvist (Swe)
9.53am Choi Hye-Jin (Kor) Jacqui Concolino (US) Ingrid Lindblad -a- (Swe)
10.04am Beth Allen (US), Jenny Shin (Kor), Jennifer Song (US)
10.15am Mariajo Uribe (Col), Chella Choi (Kor), Atthaya Thitikul -a- (Tha)
10.26am Tonje Daffinrud (Nor), Jasmine Suwannapura (Tha), Mariah Stackhouse (US)
10.37am Cydney Clanton (US), Frida Kinhult -a- (Swe), Kylie Henry (Sco)
10.48am Whitney Hillier (Aus), Linnea Strom (Swe), Sarah Schmelzel (US)
11.10am Annabel Dimmock (Eng), Jaye Marie Green (US), Lee Mi-hyang (Kor)
11.21am Stacy Lewis (US), Jodi Ewart Shadoff (Eng), Ji Eun-hee (Kor)
11.32am Gerina Piller (US), Caroline Hedwall (Swe), Teresa Lu (Tpe)
11.43am Jeongeun Lee6 (Kor), Nuria Iturrioz (Spa), Brittany Lang (US)
11.54am Cristie Kerr (US), Bronte Law (Eng), Catriona Matthew (Sco)
12.05pm Ryu So-yeon (Kor), Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha), Ayako Uehara (Jpn)
12.16pm Georgia Hall (Eng), Brooke M. Henderson (Can), Mamiko Higa (Jpn)
12.27pm Maria Fassi (Mex), Momoko Ueda (Jpn), Lydia Ko (NZ)
12.38pm Ai Suzuki (Jpn), Nelly Korda (US), Ko Jin-young (Kor)
12.49pm Sakura Yokomine (Jpn), Lizette Salas (US), Chun In-gee (Kor)
1pm Carlota Ciganda (Spa), Esther Henseleit (Ger), Amy Yang (Kor)
1.11pm Morgan Pressel (US), Celine Boutier (Fra), Maria Torres (Pur)
1.27pm Felicity Johnson (Eng), Alice Hewson -a- (Eng), Tiffany Joh (US)
1.38pm Hsu Wei-ling (Tpe), Karine Icher (Fra), Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den)
1.49pm Mi Jung Hur (Kor), Alena Sharp (Can), Christine Wolf (Aut)
2pm Megan Khang (US), Pornanong Phatlum (Tha), Cheyenne Knight (US)
2.11pm Haeji Kang (Kor), Gabriella Cowley (Eng), Jenny Haglund (Swe)
2.22pm Kristen Gillman (US), Kim Hyo-joo (Kor), Emily Toy -a- (Eng)
2.33pm Laura Fuenfstueck (Ger), Katherine Kirk (Aus), Lin Xiyu (Chn)
2.44pm Sarah Kemp (Aus), Daniela Darquea (Ecu), Valentine Derrey (Fra)
2.55pm Lindy Duncan (US), Karo Lampert (Ger), Dayeon Lee (Kor)
3.06pm Agathe Sauzon (Fra), Jing Yan (Chn), Jeongeun Lee (Kor)
3.17pm Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha), Noora Komulainen (Fin), Pavarisa Yoktuan (Tha)
3.28pm Lauren Stephenson (US), Charlotte Thompson (Eng), Emma Spitz -a- (Aut)
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