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MIDLAND, Mich. — China’s Luoning Yin and Thailand’s Attaya Thitikul started strong and kept it up on the back nine of their foursome Thursday, finishing with a 6-under 64 to share the lead with the other two teams in the opening round of the Dow Championship.
Allie Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho, teammates but not partners at the Solheim Cup, earned eagles late in the round to finish as a joint team with tied Chanetee Wanasaen and Jaravee Boonchant at 64.
The tournament is the only official team event on the LPGA Tour schedule.
Ying and Thitikul, a former women’s world number one, managed just two pars on the back nine holes, one of which was a par-five, but quickly recorded six birdies to move into the lead and then finished with one birdie and no bogeys on the front nine.
Ying said Thitikul’s putter was “so hot I didn’t want to touch it.”
“My job is just to hit the shots and make sure the ball is on the green, and she does the rest,” Yin said. “It’s a lot of fun. We had a great time there.”
The Thai team played without a bogey, with Ewing and Kupcho’s only bogey just after the turn slowing their momentum, but they fought back with a birdie on the second hole followed by an eagle on the par-5 third hole.
Ewing was one stroke away from qualifying for the Olympics after finishing tied for fifth in the KPMG Women’s PGA at Sahali, where the course was cramped, surrounded by trees, with firm greens and thick rough, and played like the U.S. Women’s Open.
So the Dow Championship was a nice change of pace.
“We just came from a mentally tough, demanding golf course, playing partner golf, which isn’t something you get to do very often,” Ewing said. “This course is a fun course to play in this format, so it’s nice to do something a little different and be able to rely on each other.”
The American team of Jennifer Chang and Annie Park and Taiwan’s team of Wei-Ling Hsu and Su-Cha Cheng placed 65th.
Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson rounded out the leaders with a 66 thanks to just three holes under par – one eagle and two birdies – and England’s Georgia Hall and Charlie Hull also shot 66, which was particularly impressive considering Hull had only played half the course.
This wasn’t a case of her clubs getting lost on the plane.
“It was really good because I haven’t even played the first nine holes on the golf course yet,” she said.
“It’s been very busy,” Hall interjected.
“It was so crowded and I wanted to watch England,” Hull said of the Euros, “so I literally said, ‘Let’s go to the pub instead.’
“So I had to guide her a little bit the first nine holes,” Hall said, “but it went pretty well considering the circumstances.”
That may be a gross understatement: They recorded four straight birdies and were tied for the lead before finishing with two bogeys.
Amy Yang, who won her first major title at the Ladies PGA Championship last week, teamed with Jennifer Song and shot 73.
Friday’s round is four-ball and usually results in better scores.
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