Australia's Minjee Lee is off to a bright start in her quest for a maiden major title at the Women's PGA Championship.
On a day when most struggled mightily on the Sahalee Country Club course, world No.13 Lee shot a one-under-par 71 to be tied for fourth after the first round, three shots behind teenage leader Brooke Henderson of Canada.
The 20-year-old Lee carded four birdies to overcome a bogey on the ninth and double bogey on the 15th.
Katherine Kirk was only a shot further back while fellow Australians Su Oh and Sarah Jane Smith were tied for 37th after 73s.
Veteran Karrie Webb had a 74 and Sarah Kemp a 76.
Already ranked No.4 in the world, 18-year-old Henderson had a two-stroke lead from American Christina Kim and South Korea's IK Kim.
Ariya Jutanugarn, the winner of her last three starts, was tied for fourth at 70.
Henderson sparked her round in spectacular fashion by making an ace on the 13th hole - her fourth hole of the day - when she hit a 7-iron from 155 yards to the left side of the green and saw it catch the apron and funnel directly to the cup.
"It really helped out a lot and gave me momentum for the rest of the day," Henderson said, who birdied three of her last four holes.
"Making the turn I was a little shaky," Henderson said. "Hit a couple of bad drives. But I was able to scramble, get up-and-down a couple of times that really saved my round and then finished really strong."
Henderson won in Portland last year and has nine top-10 finishes this season.
World No.1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand had an even-par 71 in a round that featured 14 pars, two birdies and two bogeys.
Share
