Minjee Lee takes early lead in the 2018 British Open after shooting 7-under 65

2018 has been a year Minjee Lee will remember, and all she needs now is a solid performance at a major, and after round one at the Women’s British Open, she might just achieve that.

Lee, who is ranked 8th in the world had a solid performance on day one of the Open shooting 7-under 65. That performance included a twenty-five foot put on the 15th hole to earn an eagle to put Lee in the Lee by one stroke. Mamiko Higa sat in second one shot behind Lee after day one, and five others sat one behind Higa. That included Lee Mi-hyang, Park Sung-hyun, Teresa Lu, Pornanong Phatlum and Georgia Hall.

Day one began with intermittent showers before clearing up to sunny skies. After the day improved, Ariya Jutanugarn managed to bounce back after shooting a double bogey to end her day at 71, and Inbee Park struggled in a completive pack to end her first day with 76. Brooke Henderson had the best finish for Canadian women shooting 3-under par.

Last weekend’s Ladies Scottish Open almost gave Lee her 4th major for 2018, however, she missed multiple putts and watched as Ariya Jutanugarn took the title. Losing by only one shot, it was a hard one for Lee to swallow.

However, while finishing second last weekend, it was a positive step forward for Lee. She already won this year’s Volvik Championship, had two second place finishes and five top ten finishes as well this season so far. She is sitting second in points in the LPGA standings, and by all accounts, she is well within reach of earning her first major title.

Lee will need to continue to have solid performances in a field of talented golfers. Lee was 3 under-par after shooting birdies on holes four, six and eight, and sat at 7 under-par after scoring an eagle on the 15th hole and a bogey on the 17th.

Commenting on her round one performance, Lee said,

LPGA

Commenting on her round one performance, Lee said,

“I definitely holed a lot of putts from far away, so that really helped me today. I knew I was hitting it really well coming into this week so I went out there and played my game, which is all I can control. Just having fun out there was my main goal.”

Mamiko Higa, who is ranked 51st in the world scored, shot one over on the 8th only to recover with three bogeys. Yu Liu came out early to take the lead after she shot three birdies on the fourth, fourteenth and fifteen hole putting her 6 under-par and two strokes ahead on second place. However, it was the last hole of the day that saw the Chinese player drop the lead to Lee after shooting a triple bogey.

That saw Liu joining a group all ending the day at 3 under-par. This included Moriya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson and Ryu So-yeon. Canada’s Henderson had a strong first round after recovering from two bogeys on the first three holes on the day. That recovery saw her earning five birdies to claw her way back to end her day at 3-under.

Mamiko Higa, who is ranked 51st in the world scored, shot one over on the 8th only to recover with three bogeys. Yu Liu came out early to take the lead after she shot three birdies on the fourth, fourteenth and fifteen hole to put her 6 under-par and two strokes ahead of second place. However, it was the last hole of the day that saw the Chinese player drop the lead to Lee after shooting a triple bogey.

That saw Liu joining a group all ending the day at 3 under-par. This included Moriya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson and Ryu So-yeon. Canada’s Henderson had a strong first round after recovering from two bogeys on the first three holes on the day. That recovery saw her earning five birdies to claw her way back to end her day at 3-under.

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