6-way tie for 1st-round lead at U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills

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 match for the primary time on the most prestigious occasion in girls’s golf.

The transfer labored nicely 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 know U.S. Open is going to be extremely fast, so I wanted to find a putter that will hold the ground and just do what I want it to do,” Yin mentioned. “It just so happened to be this putter. I started tinkering with it like about a month ago, and I got lucky to use 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 below par on the U.S. Ladies’s Open. Yin missed the minimize final yr with a pair of 75s.

“Either really good or really, really terrible, where I don’t see the weekend,” Yin mentioned. “I think it just says a lot about the championship. You have to play your best. There is no mediocre. … You can try to make good saves, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have it, you don’t 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 received 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 truly was a case of appendicitis. Lower than three months after her appendectomy, the Spaniard was in early rivalry on the high occasion in girls’s golf.

“I feel like my confidence is coming back,” 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 No. 4 to make up for her bogeys at Nos. 17 and a couple 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 received the yr’s first main, the Chevron Championship in Texas.

These scores are notable as a result of solely two gamers completed below par in final yr’s U.S. Ladies’s Open at Lancaster Nation Membership in Pennsylvania, with Yuka Saso posting a profitable four-round complete of 4-under 276. Saso, who’s in search of 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 is predicated on the energy of the wind, and it was comparatively calm early Thursday. Stronger winds are anticipated Friday.

“There are some tees out that are pulled up, and a lot of the par-5s, I think all of them are reachable,” Noh mentioned. “Some par 3s were shorter than normal. So, I think for sure, with the minimal wind today, it was definitely a good scoring day.”

As a sign of how forgiving this course may be when there is not a lot wind, Brooks Koepka received the 2017 U.S. Open at 16 below to tie the match report 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 last 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 match, carded an 80 within the opening spherical and went on to overlook the minimize.

“Overall, I can’t complain,” Korda mentioned. “First day of the U.S. Open, it’s all about patience. I’m striking it pretty well, so hopefully I can carry that into the next couple days.”

Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul had a 75. No. 3 Lydia Ko shot 73.