ERIN, Wis. — Angel Yin began experimenting with a brand new putter a couple of month in the past and determined to make use of it in a event for the primary time on the most prestigious occasion in ladies’s golf.
The transfer labored effectively within the first spherical at Erin Hills.
Yin made a 13 1/2-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th for a 4-under 68 and a share of the U.S. Ladies’s Open lead with 2020 champion A Lim Kim, Jinhee Im, Yealimi Noh, Rio Takeda and Julia Lopez Ramirez.
“I do know U.S. Open goes to be extraordinarily quick, so I needed to discover a putter that may maintain the bottom and simply do what I need it to do,” Yin mentioned. “It simply so occurred to be this putter. I began tinkering with it like a couple of month in the past, and I bought fortunate to make use of it.”
The 26-year-old from California certified for the U.S. Ladies’s Open as a 13-year-old at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin, again in 2012. She has skilled loads of ups and downs since at this occasion.
She tied for second in 2019 on the Nation Membership of Charleston in South Carolina, however that is the final time she completed underneath par on the U.S. Ladies’s Open. Yin missed the reduce final yr with a pair of 75s.
“Both actually good or actually, actually horrible, the place I do not see the weekend,” Yin mentioned. “I believe it simply says rather a lot in regards to the championship. It’s a must to play your greatest. There is no such thing as a mediocre. … You may attempt to make good saves, however on the finish of the day, if you do not have it, you do not have it.”
The largest shock among the many early leaders was Lopez Ramirez, who had a bogey-free spherical in her U.S. Ladies’s Open debut.
Lopez Ramirez gained consecutive Southeastern Convention titles at Mississippi State in 2023 and 2024, however she suffered a serious setback earlier this yr when what she initially believed was a bout of meals poisoning really was a case of appendicitis. Lower than three months after her appendectomy, the Spaniard was in early competition on the prime occasion in ladies’s golf.
“I really feel like my confidence is coming again,” mentioned Lopez Ramirez, whose highest end this yr is a tie for twenty ninth.
Takeda began at No. 10 and made six birdies in a nine-hole stretch from No. 14 by means of No. 4 to make up for her bogeys at Nos. 17 and a pair of. Noh benefited from an eagle within the par-5 14th. Im had a bogey-free spherical that included 4 birdies in a span of 5 holes from Nos. 10-14. Kim made birdie putts of 42 1/2 toes on No. 1 and 32 1/2 toes on No. 3.
Chisato Iwai, Nasa Hataoka, Chiara Tamburlini, Youmin Hwang and Yui Kawamoto shot 69. Hinako Shibuno, Maja Stark, Pajaree Anannarukarn, Jiwon Jean, Shiho Kuwaki, Gaby Lopez and Mao Saigo have been at 70. Saigo gained the yr’s first main, the Chevron Championship in Texas.
These scores are notable as a result of solely two gamers completed underneath par in final yr’s U.S. Ladies’s Open at Lancaster Nation Membership in Pennsylvania, with Yuka Saso posting a successful four-round whole of 4-under 276. Saso, who’s searching for her third U.S. Ladies’s Open title, had a 74 on Thursday.
Noh mentioned the low scores on the 6,829-yard, par-72 course did not shock her. Erin Hills’ issue typically relies on the energy of the wind, and it was comparatively calm early Thursday. Stronger winds are anticipated Friday.
“There are some tees out which might be pulled up, and a whole lot of the par-5s, I believe all of them are reachable,” Noh mentioned. “Some par 3s have been shorter than regular. So, I believe for positive, with the minimal wind in the present day, it was undoubtedly a great scoring day.”
As a sign of how forgiving this course may be when there is not a lot wind, Brooks Koepka gained the 2017 U.S. Open at 16 underneath to tie the event file throughout a reasonably calm week at Erin Hills.
Nelly Korda, the world’s top-ranked participant, had a 72 as she chases her first U.S. Ladies’s Open title. She has by no means completed her than a tie for eighth.
Korda entered this week having birdied an LPGA Tour-leading 29.17% of the time, however she did not make a single birdie till her ultimate gap of the day. This nonetheless represented a greater begin for Korda than final yr, when she made a ten on her third gap of the event, carded an 80 within the opening spherical and went on to overlook the reduce.
“Total, I am unable to complain,” Korda mentioned. “First day of the U.S. Open, it is all about endurance. I am hanging it fairly effectively, so hopefully I can carry that into the following couple days.”
Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul had a 75. No. 3 Lydia Ko shot 73.
