Australia's Stephanie Kyriacou leads Frida Kinhult by one shot after first round; England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff three shots off the lead; Great Britain and Ireland trail United States 5-1 after first day of Curtis Cup; watch day two on Sky Sports Golf from 3pm via the red button
Saturday 11 June 2022 07:47, UK
Australian rookie Stephanie Kyriacou shot a six-under 65 on Friday to take the first-round lead at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.
The 21-year-old, a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, teed off at 7.15am in the first group of the day at Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in New Jersey, before the tricky wind began to blow off Reeds Bay.
Kyriacou holds a one-shot lead over Sweden's Frida Kinhult, with England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff two shots further back on three under.
Kyriacou, who missed the cut in each of her three most recent events and has never finished higher than 13th place on the tour, posted her lowest-ever LPGA Tour round.
"I just took three weeks off, so I think being able to just take some time off, work on some things, and then come out with a bit more confidence was definitely part of it," said Kyriacou.
"But I don't know, I just didn't really make a mistake. When I missed the green, I made up and down. It was just fun to play today."
Kinhult, a 22-year-old former Florida State player, is also seeking her first tour victory. Playing the back nine first, she sat at one under through the break before an eventful front nine.
She made three birdies in a four-hole span from the second to fifth holes, then gave a stroke back with a bogey at the sixth.
Kinhult capped her round with an eagle on the par-five ninth hole. Her second-shot approach from 230 yards landed within in 13 feet of the cup, and she sank the eagle putt.
Rachel Heck, Rachel Kuehn and Amari Avery each won two matches to help the United States take a 5-1 lead over Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup.
Heck and Kuehn teamed up to beat Hannah Darling and Annabell Fuller 1-up in the morning fourball matches at Merion Golf Club.
In the afternoon foursomes, Kuehn and Avery topped Caley McGinty and Emily Price 3&2, and Heck and Rose Zhang beat Charlotte Heath and Amelia Williamson 4&2.
In the morning, Avery and Megha Ganne edged McGinty and Lauren Walsh 3&2.
Jensen Castle and Latanna Stone also won in the afternoon foursomes for the United States, beating Darling and Louise Duncan 5&3.
GB&I earned their lone point in the morning when Duncan and Charlotte Heath beat Zhang and Emilia Migliaccio 2&1.
"We're not feeling too disheartened and we're looking for a big day tomorrow [Saturday] and hopefully come back and make a good fight for the singles on Sunday," said Duncan.
Watch live coverage of day two of the Curtis Cup live on Sky Sports Golf on Saturday from 3pm - via the red button
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