Lee within two at Founders Cup defence
Defending champion Minjee Lee has rescued a roller-coaster front nine with a sparkling run home to keep alive her chances of going back-to-back at the Cognizant Founders Cup in New Jersey.
Lee’s four-under 68 puts her just two strokes back of Sei Young Kim (66) at Upper Montclair Country Club, fellow Australian Grace Kim in a tie for 12th after a round of three-under 69.
International Crown representatives Stephanie Kyriacou (70) and Sarah Kemp (71) are also under par after day one as the Aussie contingent seeks to extend their run of success on the LPGA Tour.
Lee has not won since her commanding US Women’s Open last June but after a quiet start to 2023 is warming to the task.
She and Kyriacou formed a lethal duo at the International Crown last week and the 26-year-old is trying to carry that form into a venue where she has already tasted success.
After starting with pars at 10 and 11, Lee traded three bogeys with three birdies to turn level with the card.
Four birdies between the second and ninth holes saw Lee surge up the leaderboard, ending the day in a share of third spot and well within reach of top spot.
Sei Young Kim had four straight birdies — on the par-5 12th, par-4 13th, par-5 14th and par-3 15th — and parred the final three holes to set the mark.
Grace Kim made her move on the back nine, picking up shots at 10, 14, 15 and 18.
Winner at the Lotte Championship last month, Kim moved to four-under with a birdie at the par-4 third but dropped a shot at six to finish at three-under.
At the Ladies European Tour event in France, Whitney Hillier (73) and Kirsten Rudgeley (75) are tied for 29th and 45th respectively after Round 1 of the Jabra Ladies Open.
Celina Yuan of New South Wales is the best of the Aussie women as the second round of the WPGA-sanctioned Thailand Mixed presented by TrustGolf gets underway in Thailand.
Yuan shot four-over in Thursday’s opening round as Rhianna Lewis and Steffanie Vogel both shot seven-over.
Taking advantage of the spots made available to PGA Tour of Australasia members, Aiden Didone is tied for 10th after a round of three-under, Shae Wools-Cobb and Liam Georgiadis a shot further back in a tie for 15th.