Charley Hull pleased with opening-round 68 at Women's British Open
Thursday 3 August 2017 20:20, UK
Charley Hull was keen to take the positives from her display after a disappointing finish to her opening round at the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
Hull made a strong start to her week at Kingsbarns with a front-nine 33 and looked set to threaten the top of the leaderboard when an eagle-three at the 11th took her within three of the lead.
The Englishwoman edged closer to clubhouse leader Michelle Wie with a birdie at the par-five 15th, only to slip back on slower greens after a second weather delay.
Back-to-back bogeys from the 16th saw Hull close a four-under 68, leaving the home favourite four off the pace.
"I was pretty happy about my round," Hull said. Shame about the three-putt on 17 and (bogey) at 16, but I actually hit good shots into the greens there.
"I'm pretty happy with the way I'm hitting it, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's round. I think tomorrow I've just got to stay patient.
"Hopefully in the morning it'll be a little bit calmer and we won't have as much rain. I'm just going to go out there and have fun and hopefully shoot a good score."
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Mel Reid and Jodi Ewart Shadoff lead the English interest and sit in a share of third thanks to matching 67s, with Shadoff one of the only afternoon starters to sign for a blemish-free card.
Reid followed a birdie-three at the fourth with a hat-trick of gains from the seventh and continued that run by picking up a shot at the par-four 10th.
The 29-year-old bounced back from a blemish at the 14th to nudge in from three feet at the next, before cancelling out a three-putt bogey at the 16th with a penultimate-hole birdie.
"You're not going to get it much calmer than what we had it this morning," Reid said. "It was important to take advantage of that and post a good score.
"I felt like I struck it really well, and yeah, I definitely left a few out there for sure. Hopefully I'm saving them for the next three days."
Veteran Dame Laura Davies rolled back the years with a lightning start at Kingsbarns, birdieing five of her opening eight holes before picking up another shot at the 14th to move within two of the lead.
The 53-year-old lost ground with a double-bogey at the 15th and another blemish at the next, but responded to roll in a 15-foot birdie at the last and complete a four-under 68.
Watch the Ricoh Women's British Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf. Live coverage of the second round begins on Friday from 11am.
