South African Lee-Anne Pace takes first-round lead at Women’s PGA Championship

NEW YORK – Lee-Anne Pace is long due a Major win, but she was just happy after firing four of her five birdies on the back nine at Baltusrol to grab a one-shot lead in the first round of the Women’s PGA Championship on Thursday.

The South African veteran’s strong finish on the demanding layout in Springfield, New Jersey, gave her a five-under 66 and put her one shot in front of Chinese duo Lin Xiyu and Yin Ruoning and Canadian Brooke Henderson, who shared second place a stroke ahead of Thailand’s Wichanee Meechai (68).

“I played very well today,” said Pace, 42, who claimed her lone LPGA Tour title in 2014 and whose best finish in a Major was a tie for sixth in the Evian Championship in 2015.

“I honestly did not expect to be leading the tournament after Day 1. It’s a very, very difficult golf course. To be in my position, I’m just really happy that I had a good score.

“No bogeys, which is awesome. Putted really well, very happy with the round.”

Pace was focusing this season on the Ladies European Tour – where she is an 11-time winner – before heading stateside for the ShopRite Classic earlier in June.

She took a conservative approach and it paid off on a course where only 16 players broke par.

“We kept it pretty simple,” she said. “Most of the greens we went for the middle, didn’t really attack too many pins.

“The putter worked, which was awesome. Hit my driver pretty straight as well.”

Darkness was closing in as she warmed up. She had back-to-back birdies at 11th and 12th, added another at 15th and finally birdied 18th.

“At my age, the darkness isn’t your friend. But, like I said, I felt very comfortable on the greens,” Pace added.

“I made a really good putt on 15, massive slope, very quick putt. That was a huge bonus.”

She got up and down from a bunker at 16th then reached the green at the par-five 18th in two and for another birdie.

Henderson, who won the Women’s PGA Championship in 2016, teed off on 10th and had two birdies and a bogey in her first nine holes before nabbing three on her inward run.

That included a birdie at her final hole, the ninth, which pulled the two-time Major champion level with Lin and Yin.

“Everything was working pretty well. I would like to hit a few more fairways tomorrow, but when I needed to I was able to get up and down a few times and the putter was rolling,” said the Canadian, who hit just five of 14 fairways.

“It’s nice to make five birdies out on this golf course. Hopefully just do something similar over the next few days.”

Lin had two birdies on each nine without a bogey as she aims to improve on her best prior Major finish, a tie for seventh at the 2021 US Women’s Open.

Yin had two birdies and an eagle without a bogey, hitting 13 fairways and 17 greens in regulation.

“My ball-striking was right on spot,” she said.

Yin teed off on 10th and after a birdie at 17th she eagled 18, where she “just smashed my three-wood up there and ended up pretty good”.

She drained a six-foot putt to make the turn three under and added one more birdie coming in.

Rose Zhang, the 20-year-old former amateur phenom who won her first start as a professional in May, shot a one-under 70 in her first Major round since turning pro.

World No. 1 Ko Jin-young of South Korea opened with a one-over 72. Second-ranked Nelly Korda struggled to a five-over 76 in her first start after taking more than a month off to deal with back pain. AFP, REUTERS