Rookie Sung Hyun Park takes early lead in Arkansas

Sung Hyun Park leads by two in opening round of Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. Aditi Ashok lying at T53.

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Sung Hyun Park

June 24, 2017: It didn’t take long for Sung Hyun Park to figure out Pinnacle Country Club.

In her first competitive round at the club, the rookie went out in the morning wave and posted an eight-under par, 63 to take the opening round lead at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

Park sits two-strokes ahead of So Yeon Ryu, Ally McDonald and Mel Reid. Stacy Lewis is part of a group including Juli Inkster, Moriya Jutanugarn, Felicity Johnson and Katherine Kirk at five-under par. India’s Aditi Ashok shot four birdies and three bogeys in a one under 70.

The young Indian is in good form and making some good strokes. As Aditi adapts to the demands of the LPGA Tour, a good week of golf is right around the corner.

The group atop the leaderboard finished just ahead of a band of severe weather that moved through Rogers, Arkansas during the afternoon. Play was suspended for about 45 minutes and resumed at 3:15 p.m. local time.

Friday morning, Park went out in 31, which included a stretch of six consecutive birdies interrupted by her only bogey of the day, and added three more birdies on the back. But Park was scrambling, she hit just eight of 13 fairways, which forced her to make up for it on the greens and she did, making it around in just 24 putts.

“My play was best with putter today, very good,” Park said after her round.

Park hasn’t missed a cut since joining the LPGA Tour and her consistency throughout her first season on Tour has put her atop the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year standings. She holds the opening round lead on Tour for the first time since the 2015 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship when she went on to finish tied for second.

The morning looked to belong to another rookie, Mel Reid, who made birdie on five of her first seven holes. Her good luck kept rolling on the back nine where she made a hole-in-one at the par three, 11th hole to jump to eight-under par and extend her lead.

“I mean, as soon as I hit it I thought, ‘oh, it’s got a chance,’” Reid said about her tee shot at the 11th hole. “I just hit a little 9-iron, so I think it was 135. I just tried to play a 130 shot and it pitched about seven behind it and came back.”

But Reid was unable to continue the momentum and dropped shots on her closing stretch to finish with a six-under par, 65 to sit two-strokes back of Park. Reid’s 65 is her low round on the LPGA Tour in 2017 and turns around a rough stretch for the rookie who missed the cut in her last three starts.

“As soon as I get on a birdie run, I’m not one of those players that get a bit scared,” Reid said. “I keep trying to make birdies.”

 

LPGA Tour Release

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