Aronimink Golf Club was everything it was supposed to be for a ladies major championship when play began early Thursday morning — and maybe even a little more.
The field for this 2020 playing of the Women’s PGA Championship was greeted by typical northeast fall weather — very cool, crisp and as the day progressed, a steady breeze showed up that would make the historic Donald Ross course play even tougher.
Darkness comes early up north this time of year and they nearly got everyone in with the exception of one threesome. Not bad all things considered.
What the players found were challenging greens surrounded by classic bunker designs and by the end of the day, only a dozen of the world’s best were able to shoot under par.
There’s a virtual smorgasbord of contenders — seems there’s someone for everyone who follows golf. There are two at the top — big-hitter Brittany Lincicome — a two-time major champion who is a new mom with daughter Emery in tow. Lincicome is a bit of a surprise after she missed the 36-hole cut at the Shoprite last week, not exactly the form one would want to have coming into a major. But she seemed to have a pretty good grasp of what’s required for success at Aronimink: ”I never tried to swing hard with the driver off the tee today,” she said. ”I was just literally, ‘Get it in the fairway and then worry about the next shot.’ And then on the green, aiming in very specific spots.” That strategy paid off with a three-under par 67 that earned her the first day co-lead with Kelly Tan.
Lincicome gave birth to Emery last July and is look for that first “motherhood” victory.
Tan is also a surprise. The 26-year-old from Malaysia has never finished higher than 30th in any major she’s played in, in fact, she’s never won on the LPGA Tour. But that shouldn’t deter her as eight of the last nine major champions in women’s golf have been first-time major winners. ”I just feel like I try to tell myself that every day I have a little goal and try to achieve them and build confidence from there,” Tan said after earning a share of the lead. ”My ball-striking has been really good, and I think that’s been a key and it’s been giving me a lot of confidence going into the next day.”
There are plenty of name players in contention. World’s No. 3 Danielle Kang had it to three-under during her round but finished with a two-under par 68 that put her in a group that included two-time major winner and a former world’s No. 1 — Lydia Ko. Ko’s short game prowess was on full display on day one as she used it to help her navigate the large green complexes.
American Cydney Clanton birdied four of her last five to get to two-under.
Gabby Lopez, Carolta Ciganda along with Clanton shot their 68s early before the winds got stronger. Lopez, you may or may not recall, was the first LPGA player to test positive for COVID-19.
Lopez had the right strategy for Aronimink: “Be patient.”
“Championship golf courses are designed to not have super low scores,” she pointed out. “I guess the biggest challenge is just being mentally prepared, patient, being calm. The wind got a little strong out there, so hitting it to the right places, being smart. We’ll see how tomorrow ends up and the rest of the week.”
Typically what happens the rest of the week in these championship is that the course simply gets tougher and that number 12 (the players under par on day one) will shrink with each round.
World’s No. 1 Jin Young Ko is still in South Korea, riding out the pandemic. But other ranked players kept themselves in it. No. 2 Nelly Korda shot one-over, 71, as did No. 4 Brooke Henderson. No. 5 Nasa Hataoka of Japan was in at 72. No. 6 Minjee Lee shot 73.
Bomber and world’s No. 10 Lexi Thompson’s even par 70 put her in good position. She was one of a dozen to equal the par of 70.
But there were casualties. Defending champion Hannah Green will be fortunate to make the cut after her opening 79. ANA winner Mirim Lee was in the same boat — she shot 77. Open champion Sophia Popov signed for 73 and last week winner Mel Reid overcame a triple-bogey seven on her first hole of the championship and finished with a respectable 74.
This one has a long way to go. There will be far more bogeys and worse than birdies at Aronimink.
It’s a nice fall spectacle for women’s golf and before it ends early Sunday afternoon, there will be plenty of drama.
Donald Ross would like that.
