By Al Campbell
VANCOUVER, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Yuka Saso set the early pace during first round play of the CPKC Women's Open on Thursday as the Japanese veteran carded a six-under 66 for a one-shot lead at Canada's national championship.
Sweden's Linn Grant was alone in second after shooting a five-under 67 at the 2.5 million U.S. dollars LPGA Tour event.
Zhang Weiwei was the top Chinese as the Hubei native started her round with three straight birdies at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club for a three-under 69 to sit equal third with Canada's Alena Sharp, South Koreans Kim Sei-young and Ko Jin-young and Americans Rose Zhang and Danielle Kang.
Other Chinese scores saw World No. 3 Yin Ruoning finish on an even-par 72, while Lin Xiyu and Yan Jing were a shot further back after a 73. Liu Ruixin was two-over 74.
Saso, winner of the 2021 US Women's Open, started her early morning round at the 10th hole and stumbled early in picking up a bogey five on her first hole. After birdies at the 11th and 13th holes, her second and fourth holes, she carded another bogey at the 18th hole (her ninth hole) to make the turn at even par.
Her back nine, the front nine, is where Saso really got her round going as the 22-year-old shot four straight birdies from the first hole. She then picked up more shots with birdies at the sixth and seventh holes.
"First nine was pretty stable. Hit it okay. Putted okay. I don't know what happened on the back nine. I started hitting some good second shots and having short putts for birdies, giving myself a lot of chances," said Saso who won the individual and team gold medals for the Philippines at the 2018 Asian Games. Last year, she gave up her Philippines citizenship to compete for Japan, the birthplace of her father.
"I hit some good shots, I guess. But tomorrow is a new day. I just have to be patient and do what I have to do and enjoy it."
Grant, who got her first LPGA Tour win last month at the Dana Open, finished strongly with four straight birdies from the 12th hole after dropping her only shot of the day at the par-five 11th hole.
"I did not expect to shoot minus-five today. I didn't feel very confident with my swing going out, but I managed to kind of find something and, you know, golf is golf; you got to just kind of go with what you have," said the 24-year-old who has been selected for the European team for the upcoming Solheim Cup in Spain.
"Today was a mix of some lucky birdies and some really good ones. I think after 12 I kind of got confidence going and kind of felt more confident hitting the shots and relying on my golf and myself."
Notable scores included World No. 1 Lilia Vu and New Zealand's Lydia Ko on even-par 72, while France's Celine Boutier, a three-time winner this season, shot 73. ■
