Calgary, Alberta — Lauren Coughlin shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday in cold and windy conditions to take the first-round lead at the CPKC Women’s Open.
Fellow American Jennifer Kupcho suffered an upset with Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn and Australians Minjee Lee and Hannah Green.
Coughlin opened the round that began at No. 11 with eight straight pars, then had five birdies and bogey over the final 10 holes with the temperature barely reaching the 60s at Earl Gray Golf Club.
“It was a lot windier than I expected, so I had to be super patient at first,” Coughlin said. “I kind of started getting some shots. It was tough out there, for sure, but I hit a lot of really good shots and a lot of good putts.
Winless on the LPGA Tour, the 31-year-old former University of Virginia player is coming off a fourth-place finish two weeks ago in France at the Evian Major Champions.
“Since Evian, I’ve been hitting the ball extremely well,” Coughlin said. “Continuing, even in a bad week, was really good. It’s just trying to be myself and have fun, and then see what I get out of it.”
Kupcho had four birdies and one bogey.
“The weather was a little crazy,” Kupcho said. “I feel like we’ve had three different seasons on 18 holes. It definitely got some sun at the end and that’s when I did all my birds. Seriously, I just tried to be patient all day.
Green has won twice this year, winning the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore in February and the JM Eagle LA Championship in April.
“It was tough out there,” Green said. “It’s good that the sun came out. It was very cold in the middle of our round. I’m really happy to finish below par this afternoon.”
Three-time champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand led the group at age 70. Ko won as an amateur in 2012 at age 15, successfully defended her title as an amateur in 2013 and won as a professional in 2015.
“It was cold. It was windy,” Ko said. “Tuesday, Wednesday was hot and windless. So it felt like I was playing on a different golf course. I knew I had to be patient.
Hye-Jin Choi was also 70 with Alison Lee, Haeran Ryu, Jenny Shin and Gigi Stoll.
Savannah Grewal and Maude-Aimee Leblanc each shot 71 to lead the Canadians in the field. Canadian star Brooke Henderson, the 2018 champion, opened with a 72.
“It wasn’t really the hot start I wanted, but I felt like we fought hard,” Henderson said. “It was very difficult out there this morning. A little cooler and a lot of wind.”
Lilia Vu, second place, also scored 71.
Lexi Thompson had 72. She plans to play a limited schedule after this season.
___
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
