South Korean teenager Kim Hyo Joo set the Evian Masters in France alight with a record-breaking first round of 10-under-par 61 yesterday.
It was the lowest round in a major golf championship - replacing the 62s from Finland's Minea Blomqvist (2004 Women's British Open) and Lorena Ochoa (2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship). The lowest round in a men's major is 63.
Kim, who won the 2010 R&A Junior Girls' Open at St Andrews, led by four shots from Australian veteran Karrie Webb with defending champion Suzann Pettersen in a tie for fourth on 67. But it ended as a rather wretched day for the two Scots in the field, Catriona Matthew and Kylie Walker, who was playing in the c hampionship for a first time. Both shot 75.
For Walker, the four-over-par score was particularly heartbreaking as she had been at the top of the leader board on four-under-par after ten holes. But she then had a horror four double-bogeys in a row from the 13th. The 28-year-old had been suffering from a neck injury, but she had no excuses.
"I really played well until those four holes," she said. "They were pretty dreadful. To have four doubles in a row is really annoying. I didn't get a practice round so I guess that wasn't ideal preparation. I'm pretty happy at least with my neck, my health and certainly feeling a lot better today.
"The bad run started at the 13th. I hit my tee shot right and out of bounds and just made par. The 14th, the par-3, I hit it in the bunker. On 15 I hit it a bit right off the tee and then went into water at 16."
Patience was the key for Pettersen. One-over-par after 13 holes, she then reeled off five birdies in a row for a four-under 67. "I'm thrilled to finish with five straight birdies," she said. "The most positive aspect was that I was patient enough to wait for something to happen and not flip out."
It was a hugely disappointing day for US Women's Open champion Michelle Wie. Playing in her first event for five weeks due to a hand injury, she withdrew at five-over-par after 13 holes. "It sucks," she said.
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