Defending HSBC champ Michelle Wie exits as world No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn shares lead
A dream start by the world’s top women’s golfer at the HSBC Women’s World Championship on Thursday (28 February) was overshadowed by the shock exit of the defending champion.
A year ago, Michelle Wie claimed an exhilarating victory at Sentosa Golf Club’s New Tanjong Course, when she came from five strokes behind to win the prestigious tournament by one stroke with a dramatic birdie on her final putt.
On Thursday, however, the 29-year-old lasted just 15 holes before withdrawing from the competition with a recurrence of her wrist injury. The American carded five bogeys and two double bogeys, as she was clearly troubled by her injury.
Ariya leads with four others after round one
While Wie ended her title defence prematurely, world No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn powered her way to the top of the leaderboard with a four-under-par 68 after round one of the championship. This gives the Thai star a share of the lead alongside France’s Celine Boutier, China’s Liu Yu, the United States’ Amy Olsen and Australia’s Minjee Lee.
The course had clearly been set up to provide the 63-player field with a stern test of golf, as Ariya quipped, “The greens have been pretty fast, and it’s tough because it’s really firm. It’s so tough to hit close to the pin. (I had trouble) especially during my front nine, because I didn’t realise that they played that firm.”
Lee, the world No. 3 who finished second at last week’s Honda LPGA Thailand tournament, added, “I was a little bit more consistent on the back nine, and I finished with three birdies, which was nice. I have to just keep hitting fairways, get a little bit more length off the tee and have a good short game.”
Seven lie just a shot behind
There was also a bunch of players lying just a shot behind at 69, most notably Ariya’s elder sister Moriya. The others are England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff, China’s Feng Shanshan, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, South Korea’s Ko Jin Young and Park Sung Hyun, and Japan’s Nasa Hataoka.
Singapore’s lone representative Amanda Tan had a tough round, shooting an 11-over 83.
The HSBC Women’s World Championship is taking place at Sentosa Golf Club until Sunday.
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