Michelle Wie had about 100 people following her in the opening round of this LPGA event. Once her home course before moving to the mainland for good, Wie battled the windy conditions to shoot an even-par 72, much to the delight of the home folks.
“I love it,” Wie said. “I love seeing familiar faces in the crowd. A lot of my friends came out to watch, so that was really fun. Yeah I love playing in front of the hometown crowd. To me playing in Hawaii is a very special feeling, something that I cherish and look forward to every year. So it’s going to be a very fun week.”
Wie has been playing better the last year, moving up to No. 13 in the world. Just over 13 months ago, she was ranked No. 118. She will begin today’s second round at 12:39 p.m. off the first hole. The 28-year-old is five shots off the pace and tied for 22nd.
Granada goes low
Julieta Granada was among several golfers who braved the blustery trade winds well enough to land in the red numbers. With her mom still carrying her golf bag, Granada fired a 3-under 69, good enough for a tie for fifth with five other golfers on this tightly packed leaderboard.
She managed two birdies and two bogeys on the front and three birdies on the back nine to get into contention. The fact she had to qualify for this event on Sunday in a three-hole playoff is a distant memory.
“I’m just making the best out of the chance that I got,” Granada said. “I’m super happy with my game. I just managed my golf ball; just kept it in play all around.”
Solid start for Salas
Lizette Salas opened her latest Lotte appearance by posting her 10th sub-70 round at Ko Olina.
Salas birdied all four par-5s and circled six in total on her scorecard. She put together a run of three birdies in a four-hole stretch, the last coming on the par-3 eighth. A closing bogey, her third of the day, took a bit of the shine off the round, but she left the course pleased overall with her 3-under 69.
Salas said dealing with the wind is a challenge, but “it’s a pretty challenge being out here.
“Seven years coming out here, I have to expect to play in these kind of winds,” the USC product said. “I enjoy it. I think some holes are easier than others. Par-5s were definitely holes you need to take advantage of, and that’s what I did today.”
Inside the numbers
If you’re looking to make a birdie at the finishing hole, you just might be out of luck. The difficult par-4 18th on a calm day was a bear during the first round with a scoring average of 4.59. It was rated the most difficult hole with no birdies in the opening round among the 312 carded across Ko Olina. There were also only 77 pars, 53 bogeys, 10 double bogeys and four of the dreaded three-plus variety.
The easiest hole for this day where 21 people landed in the red and 35 shot par or better was the par-5 fifth. Despite its 528 yards in length, the only two eagles of the opening round were found on this hole. There were also 48 birdies, 75 pars and 19 bogeys for a stellar scoring average of 4.77.
The overall scoring average was 74.64 in blustery trade wind conditions. If scores hold true today, the cut line will be plus 4.
WEDNESDAY’S FIRST ROUND
At Ko Olina Golf Club, Kapolei
Purse: $2 million
Yardage: 6,419; Par 72
a-denotes amateur
Shanshan Feng 33-34—67 -5
Martina Edberg 33-35—68 -4
Brooke M. Henderson 33-35—68 -4
Haeji Kang 33-35—68 -4
Mo Martin 33-36—69 -3
Inbee Park 36-33—69 -3
Julieta Granada 36-33—69 -3
Alena Sharp 34-35—69 -3
Eun-Hee Ji 33-36—69 -3
Lizette Salas 34-35—69 -3
Lindy Duncan 38-32—70 -2
Pernilla Lindberg 33-37—70 -2
Kim Kaufman 34-36—70 -2
Minjee Lee 35-35—70 -2
Allison Emrey 35-36—71 -1
Ji Hyun Kim 35-36—71 -1
Ayako Uehara 35-36—71 -1
Kris Tamulis 35-36—71 -1
Benyapa Niphatsophon 36-35—71 -1
Cristie Kerr 34-37—71 -1
Madelene Sagstrom 36-35—71 -1
Robynn Ree 36-36—72 E
Hannah Green 35-37—72 E
Moriya Jutanugarn 36-36—72 E
Ryann O’Toole 35-37—72 E
So Yeon Ryu 36-36—72 E
Alexandra Newell 36-36—72 E
Nasa Hataoka 37-35—72 E
Katelyn Dambaugh 34-38—72 E
Tiffany Chan 37-35—72 E
Ilhee Lee 34-38—72 E
Brittany Marchand 36-36—72 E
Pornanong Phatlum 33-39—72 E
Michelle Wie 36-36—72 E
Mariajo Uribe 36-36—72 E
Rebecca Artis 36-37—73 +1
Sarah Jane Smith 37-36—73 +1
Ariya Jutanugarn 35-38—73 +1
Maude-Aimee Leblanc 37-36—73 +1
Daniela Iacobelli 35-38—73 +1
Thidapa Suwannapura 35-38—73 +1
So Young Lee 34-39—73 +1
Katherine Kirk 34-39—73 +1
Danielle Kang 36-37—73 +1
Jenny Shin 35-38—73 +1
Chella Choi 35-38—73 +1
Aditi Ashok 38-35—73 +1
Camilla Lennarth 34-39—73 +1
Yu Liu 35-39—74 +2
Gemma Dryburgh 36-38—74 +2
Katie Burnett 36-38—74 +2
Celine Boutier 38-36—74 +2
Paula Reto 37-37—74 +2
Azahara Munoz 37-37—74 +2
Hee Young Park 35-39—74 +2
Jennifer Song 37-37—74 +2
Bronte Law 36-38—74 +2
Sandra Changkija 36-38—74 +2
Mina Harigae 37-37—74 +2
Angel Yin 38-36—74 +2
Peiyun Chien 39-35—74 +2
Mariah Stackhouse 38-36—74 +2
Hyo Joo Kim 38-36—74 +2
Cydney Clanton 37-37—74 +2
In Gee Chun 38-36—74 +2
Emma Talley 36-38—74 +2
Amy Olson 34-40—74 +2
Beatriz Recari 37-37—74 +2
Sei Young Kim 36-38—74 +2
Christina Kim 37-37—74 +2
Luna Sobron 39-35—74 +2
Kendall Dye 38-36—74 +2
Kelly Shon 39-36—75 +3
Maria Torres 36-39—75 +3
Lauren Coughlin 36-39—75 +3
Wichanee Meechai 38-37—75 +3
Caroline Inglis 36-39—75 +3
Tiffany Joh 36-39—75 +3
Angela Stanford 36-39—75 +3
Nannette Hill 39-36—75 +3
Maddie McCrary 37-38—75 +3
Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong
36-39—75 +3
Jaye Marie Green 35-40—75 +3
Lee Lopez 37-38—75 +3
Anna Nordqvist 40-35—75 +3
Brittany Altomare 39-36—75 +3
Jeong Eun Lee 37-38—75 +3
Brittany Benvenuto 35-40—75 +3
Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras
37-38—75 +3
Dori Carter 37-38—75 +3
P.K. Kongkraphan 38-37—75 +3
Madeleine Sheils 37-38—75 +3
Dottie Ardina 38-37—75 +3
Ashleigh Buhai 37-39—76 +4
Simin Feng 39-37—76 +4
Vicky Hurst 38-38—76 +4
Lydia Ko 37-39—76 +4
a-Suzuka Yamaguchi 36-40—76 +4
Dani Holmqvist 38-38—76 +4
Giulia Molinaro 36-40—76 +4
Min Song Ha 37-39—76 +4
Brittany Lang 37-39—76 +4
Alison Walshe 38-38—76 +4
Lindsey Weaver 40-36—76 +4
Jeongeun Lee6 36-40—76 +4
Jackie Stoelting 39-37—76 +4
Daniela Darquea 39-37—76 +4
Mind Muangkhumsakul 36-40—76 +4
Harang Lee 39-38—77 +5
Jing Yan 37-40—77 +5
Sung Hyun Park 39-38—77 +5
Su Oh 40-37—77 +5
Min Lee 39-38—77 +5
Nanna Koerstz Madsen 36-41—77 +5
Lauren Kim 40-37—77 +5
Carlota Ciganda 36-41—77 +5
Laetitia Beck 38-39—77 +5
Maria Hernandez 37-40—77 +5
Cheyenne Woods 37-40—77 +5
Gaby Lopez 37-40—77 +5
Katelyn Sepmoree 39-39—78 +6
Perrine Delacour 39-39—78 +6
Jimin Kang 38-40—78 +6
Katherine Perry 39-39—78 +6
Leticia Ras-Anderica 39-39—78 +6
Alison Lee 37-41—78 +6
Becky Morgan 38-41—79 +7
Haru Nomura 39-40—79 +7
Lee-Anne Pace 37-42—79 +7
Na Yeon Choi 40-39—79 +7
Beth Allen 38-41—79 +7
Brianna Do 41-39—80 +8
Celine Herbin 38-42—80 +8
Kassidy Teare 42-38—80 +8
Jennifer Hahn 41-39—80 +8
Mel Reid 38-42—80 +8
Ally McDonald 38-43—81 +9
Olafia Kristinsdottir 42-39—81 +9
Amelia Lewis 39-42—81 +9
Anne-Catherine Tanguay 38-43—81 +9
Erynne Lee 40-41—81 +9
Sophia Popov 41-41—82 +10
Jessy Tang 37-45—82 +10
Samantha Troyanovich 38-44—82 +10
