Canada's Brooke Henderson tied for 2nd after shooting 67 in opening round of Meijer LPGA Classic - MASHAHER

Brooke Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., was two strokes back of the Meijer LPGA Classic lead at 67 after the first round on Thursday.

She’s tied with with 2022 champion Jennifer Kupcho, Lizette Salas, Benedetta Moresco, Narin An, Carlota Ciganda, Ssu-Chia Cheng, Lauren Hartlage and Daniela Darquea.

“It was extremely windy,” Henderson said. “It was really tough to judge. I feel like the first few holes I didn’t hit a fairway and was really getting up-and-down, made a lot clutch par saves, which really kept the momentum and the round going.”

Henderson won the event in 2017 and 2019.

WATCH | Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shoots 5-under 67 in 1st round:

Brooke Henderson tied for 2nd after opening round of Meijer LPGA Classic

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shoots 5-under 67 in the first round of the Meijer LPGA Classic. Henderson trails leader Alison Lee of the United States by two strokes.

Nelly Korda stumbled again Thursday in her first event since missing the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open, dropping four strokes on the first three holes in a 4-over 76.

The top-ranked Korda was tied for 133rd in the 144-player field, 11 strokes behind leader Alison Lee at Blythefield Country Club.

Korda shot 80-70 — making a 10 on a hole in the first round — two weeks ago in the U.S. Women’s Open in Pennsylvania. She came into the Women’s Open with six victories in her last seven tournaments, including a major that tied an LPGA Tour record for five wins in a row.

On Thursday at Blythefield, where she won in 2021 at a tournament-record 25 under, Korda opened double bogey-bogey-bogey. Playing in the afternoon in a group with fellow past champions Henderson and Leona Maguire, Korda was even par the rest of the way, offsetting three bogeys with three birdies.

Lee shot 65. Winless on the tour, she eagled the par-5 eighth and had seven birdies and a bogey.

“Definitely really nice to shoot a low one today,” Lee said. “Definitely giving a lot of credit to my putter. Even I made a lot of really, really good par saves, and a lot of good birdies.”

Lilia Vu, a former No. 1 player and double major winner last year, opened with a 69 — playing alongside Lee — in her return from a back injury that sidelined her since the Ford Championship in Arizona at the end of March.

“Played with my good friend Alison,” Vu said. “It was fun. She played really well, so kept me in check.”

Lexi Thompson, the 2015 winner, shot 71. She has gone more than five years without winning. Thompson has said this will be her last year playing a full schedule.

Defending champion Maguire eagled the par-5 18th for a 72.

Source Agencies