Ryu, Kang share Brit lead
So Yeon Ryu won the U.S. Women’s Open last summer in Colorado and backed it up with a victory last month in the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic.
The 22-year-old South Korean player made another big statement Thursday at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England, in her Women’s British Open debut, shooting a 2-under 70 for a share of the firstround lead with Haeji Kang.
“After I won [in Toledo], I was a little more relieved and that helped me a lot,” Ryu said. “How can I say, even when I was winning the U.S. Women’s Open, a lot of people said it might be just one tournament or just a dark horse like that. But after I won the Toledo championship, I broke that.”
Ryu had five birdies and two bogeys in relatively calm conditions on the difficult Royal Liverpool links course.
“This is my first time played in England, so I never played this type of golf course,” Ryu said. “It’s really tough, but fun. Always the first experience, really fun and a little tough, but I want to enjoy this type of golf course.”
The 2-under leading score is the highest in the first round since the tournament became a major in 2002, in relatively calm conditions.
Kang, 21, also from South Korea, had six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.
“I hit it pretty good,” said Kang, winless on the LPGA Tour. “My iron shots were just inside 20 feet all the time, so I could just putt it out.”
She hit 13 greens in regulation and needed only 27 putts in her morning round.
Australia’s Karrie Webb, the tournament winner in 1995, 1997 and 2002, was a stroke back along with 16-year-old English amateur Charley Hull, Jiyai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Mika Miyazato, Stacey Keating, Lydia Hall, Vicky Hurst and Kate Kutcher.
Nathan Smith, 34, won the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Lake Forest for a record fourth time, beating Canadian hockey referee Garrett Rank, 25, 1-up in the 36-hole final.
The tournament winner traditionally has earned a spot in the Masters. Smith, from Pittsburgh, also won the event for players 25 and older in 2003, 2009 and 2010.
Rank, a referee in the Ontario Hockey League, won the 31st, 32nd and 33rd hole to square the match. They halved the 34th, Smith regained the lead with a par on the par-3 35th, and won when they halved the par-5 36th with pars.
Ellen Port, 50, won the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur in Hersey, Pa., beating Jane Fitzgerald, 50, 4 and 3 on Hershey Country Club’s West Course. Port, from St. Louis, won her fifth USGA women’s title.
Maroney undergoes leg surgery
Olympic champion McKayla Maroney has some new hardware.
In Indianapolis, Maroney had two screws inserted to repair a fracture in her left tibia, which occurred Sunday when she fell on her uneven bars dismount during the second stop of a 40-city tour.
She will wear an immobilizer to keep the leg straight until doctors determine she’s ready to resume limited walking and rebuilding range of motion.
Conway opts out of Fontana race
Mike Conway dropped out of the IndyCar season finale at Fontana in Santa Monica, Calif., saying he is not comfortable racing on oval tracks. Conway asked A.J. Foyt Racing to sit out Saturday night’s race. He will be replaced by Wade Cunningham.
The Fire has loaned forward Orr Barouch, 20, to Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C of Israel.
Canadian tennis star Aleksandra Wozniak injured her right shoulder and withdrew from the Bell Challenge in Quebec City.