SOUTHPORT, England — Ayako Uehara of Japan felt confident with the putter and played in the best weather Royal Birkdale has to offer. It was the right combination to take the lead Thursday in the Women’s British Open. And the best she could manage was a 4-under 68.
Pot bunkers can present problems on any links course. Throw in some thick grass and par becomes a problem.
Michelle Wie could attest to that. The U.S. Women’s Open champion spent too much time chipping out of sand and rough on her way to a 75. Cristie Kerr didn’t make a birdie, shot 81 and withdrew with a sore back. Only nine players broke par, all but two of them in the relative calm of a sunny morning along the Irish Sea.
“It’s only going to get harder,” defending champion Stacy Lewis said after a 71. “Anything under par on this golf course is a good score.”
Uehara got her lone mistake out of the way early and made another bogey after the opening hole. She made three birdies in a four-hole stretch, added two birdies on the back nine and built a one-shot lead over Mo Martin.
“Ayako obviously put up a really good number,” said Lewis, who played in her group. “She seems like she wasn’t in trouble at all. She was just greens, greens, center of the green. You can kind of learn a little bit from that and maybe not go at so many pins.”
Morgan Pressel scrambled her way to a 70, joined by Sarah Kemp and Mina Harigae. The only players who broke par in the afternoon were former U.S. Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu and Amy Yang, who played in the final group at the U.S. Women’s Open last month. Both shot 71.
“I don’t think they can make it any easier,” Pressel said.
That doesn’t bode well for Wie, who was introduced on the first tee as the U.S Women’s Open champion and then posted her highest score of the year. Wie had to birdie the par-5 18th hole — the only time she hit driver — to finish 3 over.
“Thought I made a good game plan,” Wie said. “Just didn’t hit good shots today.”
The scores Thursday might have been a preview of what the men can expect next week at Royal Liverpool for The Open Championship, through Royal Birkdale is a stronger test. The links courses are separated by about 25 miles, and a wet spring has allowed the grass to get thick and lush. That makes it difficult to make contact with the golf ball, assuming it can be found. Tiger Woods won at Liverpool in 2006 on a fast course with wispy grass.
John Deere Classic
SILVIS, Ill. — Zach Johnson, Rory Sabbatini and Brian Harman shot 8-under-par 63s Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the John Deere Classic.
Johnson and Sabbatini played bogey-free golf, while Harman had nine birdies and one bogey on the par-71 TPC Deere Run.
They led 2004 British Open champion Todd Hamilton, Australian Steven Bowditch and William McGirt, the best afternoon finisher, by a stroke.
Johnson, who won the Deere in 2012 and lost it to Jordan Spieth in a playoff last year, birdied four of his first five holes and was 6 under on his opening nine.
Harman, who bettered his best round of the year by two strokes, was 2 under through six holes when his caddie, Scott Tway, took ill. Jay Hatch of Davenport, Iowa, a high school basketball coach, volunteered from the gallery, and carried Harman’s bag the last 12 holes, which Harman played in 6 under.
Scottish Open
ABERDEEN, Scotland — Rory McIlroy rolled in six birdies in seven holes around the turn to shoot a 7-under 64 and take a one-stroke lead midway through the first round of the Scottish Open on Thursday.
Refreshed after taking two weeks off, the No. 8-ranked McIlroy tamed windy conditions in northern Scotland to show his links game is in good shape ahead of next week’s British Open at Hoylake.
One of the highlights of his round was driving the green on the 436-yard 13th hole while the group ahead was on the putting surface. That set up one of his eight birdies at Royal Aberdeen.
Unheralded Swede Kristoffer Broberg shot a bogey-free 65 to sit just behind McIlroy on a leaderboard that includes Luke Donald (4-under 67). Defending champion Phil Mickelson shot 68.
Senior Open
EDMOND, Okla. — Colin Montgomerie declared Bernhard Langer the favorite heading into the U.S. Senior Open.
After 18 holes, Montgomerie may well have seized that position himself with a 6-under 65 to lead at the end of Thursday at Oak Tree National.
The Scotsman started on No. 10 and birdied Nos. 14, 15 and 16 on the way to a 33 on the back nine. He birdied six, seven and eight to finish strong in oppressive heat and humidity.
“That was the key to the round, the three birdies in a row on the front nine, my back nine,” Montgomerie said. “To birdie six, seven, eight was good. That got me to the position I am now.”
Marco Dawson was second after a 66, and Mark Brooks was third after shooting 68. Langer was one of five golfers tied for fourth with a 69.
By wire sources