THE early signs on day one of the Ladies Scottish Open were that South Koreans were going to exert utter dominance in Gullane, with three compatriots, Amy Yang, IK Kim and Jenny Shin sharing the lead for much of the day.
However, a late push by Tiffany Joh broke their monopoly, with the American taking the first round lead with an impressive nine under par to lead by four shots going into day two.
A baking hot day in East Lothian resulted in the course being almost uncontrollably fast but Joh had a handle on the conditions from the outset, setting the tone with birdies at the opening two holes before continuing in that vain to record a flawless, bogey-free round of 62.
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The surf fanatic admitted to having done considerable research on the best areas on the east coast to get out on a board but yesterday, her focus was entirely on Gullane’s composite course, and it paid off in fine fashion with the 31-year-old recording what she considered the best round of her career. But as she knows only too well, nothing can be taken for granted in links golf.
“I would say it’s probably my best round - I pretty much kept it in play and putted amazing, that’s the only way I could describe it,” she said of yesterday’s round.
“But it’s links - you just never know, things can happen at the tip of a cap. I think the people that tend to play better on links courses are the ones that have the best attitudes - the ones that go out there and regardless of what happens, they just look at it like, this is links golf, this is what you get.”
If Joh continues this form, she will have more on her mind this weekend than going to the beach but the world number 177 admits she remains keen to squeeze at least a little bit of surfing in.
“I heard there’s a place called Pease Bay that might be pretty decent,” she said.
“I have an app that tells me the nearest surf breaks and if there’s any surf forecasted. It looked like this weekend there might be a little swell in the water so I might be out there off of 11 tee trying to shred some gnar.
“I heard there’s one shop that I can rent a board from but I’m hoping if I just put out my energy to Twitter or Instagram, someone in the area will be like, hey, you can use our board.”
All eyes had been on Catriona Matthew ahead of this week, with the Solheim Cup captain expected to use all of her local knowledge to record a good score and certainly, the 48-year-old’s round of 69 leaves her very much in the mix.
But in fact, it was Kelsey MacDonald who stole the limelight, with the late starter creeping up the leaderboard as play came to a close for the day with an impressive four under par round of 67 and the 27-year-old was delighted to record her first bogey-free round for some considerable time.
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“I’m really happy,” she said, despite missing a birdie on the last by mere inches.
“My speed was good all day and I gave myself really good chances. I got the perfect weather for it too - it was windy to start with but you’ve just got to stay present. I stayed focused on my process and that helped a lot.”
The South Koreans remain very much in the hunt though. Yang and Shin were amongst the first groups out and they were able to make the most of the lack of wind, although Yang could have claimed second spot in her own right had she not bogeyed the last.
But it is IK Kim who has the best pedigree on links courses having won the Women’s British Open last year. The 30-year-old admitted to being pleased with her day’s work but revealed that her proficiency at links golf is somewhat unexpected considering her lack of experience of it.
“I hit many good hybrids into the green and I was able to make some not so close putts,” she said.
“I think putting was exciting today. But I have to say I hit a lot of fairways, too - in this condition, that was good.
“In Korea, we play no links golf. We play in very windy and rainy conditions but this is very different.”
Elsewhere, the marquee names failed to sparkle with Michelle Wie four over, Lydia Ko two over and defending champion, Mi-Hyang Lee on three over. However, world number two Sung-Hyun Park remained in touch with a four under 67, alongside British number one, Charley Hull.
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